Fox and the Cub
by kamorge0
Summary: Jaune Arc had always wanted to be a huntsman. The sky was blue, water was wet, and that was his dream. It didn't take long for him to be reminded that he was woefully inadequate for such a job. Still, there is no darkness without the dawn. The hour of his damnation might well have been his salvation as he meets someone who just might be able to help.
1. Chapter 1

_**Greetings and Salutations! Welcome to the first chapter of a brand new journey! To anyone coming from An Old Fox's New Trick I want to make it clear that this story is not in full swing as of yet. The funding for this story is about halfway there as of posting this. In reality, my teaser didn't portray the most important aspect of this story, that being that it was going to be a story focused on two main characters. Namely one fox and one cub.**_

 _ **So we'll see if adding a little more meat to the bone gives people some hunger. Whereas OFNT is about depression and grief, F &C will be about growth and lack thereof. A much less broken Naruto in this story, one that has lived through his happy family of canon and continued to live on far past that.**_

 _ **If you do end up liking this story and are able I would request that you go to**_ ** _p a treon . com (slash) Faulkner and support my effort's to produce it. Upon request, I have added a tier to my pa+reon that will allow any one person to pay a somewhat hefty sum to start production of this story independent of the normal stretch goal. I'm happy to write this, but I need to know whether or not my audience is interested in funding it._**

 ** _With that being said thank you for being here! I present to you Chapter one of Fox and the Cub. See you next time! If there is a next time... *dramatic ambiance*_**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 **Startup Difficulties**

On a scale of one to ten Jaune would say his hometown, Ansel, was the size of something between a two and a three. It wasn't some hillbilly town in the middle of nowhere, that much was sure. They had multiple grocery stores, an arcade, and they even had three separate schools for elementary, middle, and high school. You just didn't get that kind of treatment in a town that was a size one.

Of course, there were things about Ansel that set it apart from a town that was a four or higher too. Big corporate chain stores had long since abandoned hope of setting up stock in their town. Every time one had tried prior the town had almost unilaterally boycotted it. It didn't matter how low they dropped their prices, that didn't help their sales one lick. The boycott was just a manifestation of the philosophy you only got in small towns.

They looked after their own.

Jaune had never minded knowing almost everyone in the town. That being said he didn't exactly have much to use as a standard of comparison. Other than his father his family didn't exactly get out of the town much at all. They'd visited Vale once when he was still a kid… well, more of a kid than he was now. That visit was in no small part a contributor to his current predicament.

The other key factor was his father. The current scion of the Arc clan was a huntsman and a hell of a good one at that. He had to be to do missions by himself that paid well enough to pay for a family of eight children and a wife. That wasn't the extent of his dad's capabilities though, not by a long shot. They never needed to call a mechanic to fix their car, a plumber to fix their pipes, or a carpenter to install whatever new flooring that Mom wanted installed that year. If there was something that needed to be done, Dad did it. That was all there was to it.

One time when Jaune was seven his favorite toy broke. It was a superhero toy, X-Ray from 'X-Ray and Vav', and the symbol on the plastic toy's chest didn't light up anymore. It might have been a silly memory to some, but he remembered crying to his father about it. Dad hadn't looked at him with pity, but neither was he disappointed with Jaune. His father wordlessly took the toy from Jaune, opened up the right drawer of his desk — a beautiful thing that he cut the lumber for, sawed into the necessary boards, panels and adornments, self-constructed, self-sanded and stained testament to both art and craftsmanship — withdrew a small screwdriver and popped open X-Ray's back.

The toy was small, cheap, and that meant it was both simple in its circuitry and in no way worth fixing. That didn't matter to Dad, he spent half an hour figuring out what was wrong with the toy regardless of whether or not it was efficient to do so. In hindsight, considering what his dad made, he could have bought five of those toys with the money he'd make spending a similar time at work.

It turned out the tiny battery that powered the light up portion was dead. It was a testament to Jaune's love of that toy. Toys so cheap tended to break or be forgotten long before the power source fizzled out. When all was said and done his father told him he owed him seven lien for the cost of the battery. It was a price that hardly mattered to the elder Arc, but to Jaune it was huge. That was two weeks of allowance to fix a toy that barely cost more than that fresh out of the box.

Jaune paid his father.

He didn't realize it, not even now, but that seven lien was a lesson. Everything cost something. Even if it had just been a wire coming loose, a simple problem that could have been fixed without expending a single lien, it would have still cost time. A person needed to decide what in their life was worth their time. Maybe if he understood that lesson Jaune wouldn't find himself staring down death.

He was about to die specifically because of the boons and pitfalls that came with living in a small town. Jaune had wanted to be a huntsman like his father, only his parents refused. No matter what Jaune said his father's response was always the same. "Being a huntsman is about doing. You don't get that."

Jaune didn't get it then and he didn't get it now. That didn't mean his dream changed, though. The only difference was that now he knew he'd have to do it without the blessing of his parents. So he'd resolved himself to take the Arc family sword, Crocea Mors, along with what was both the scabbard and shield that went with it. Still, a weapon and shield did not a huntsman make. Jaune didn't have the experience, ability, or credentials a student at Beacon would need to get in. So in an act that demonstrated some moral malleability, he had paid someone to have those forged.

After he'd sent those into Beacon he'd had to volunteer to get the mail every single day. If his parents knew that he'd applied to a school for huntsmen… his father was slow to anger, but that just made it all the more harrowing when the Arc patriarch achieved such a state. Jaune's jubilation when the acceptance letter arrived was almost enough to sell him down the river by alerting his father itself. All that was left at that point was to make it to Beacon.

The reason being such a small town was a problem was that they only had one bullhead pilot that did any outbound flights. He was a nice guy and a family friend. So close a friend to the Arc family that he knew all about the situation. To cut a long story down to size it meant that taking a bullhead out of Ansel to get to one of the Beacon drop off points — a place where a larger aircraft would ferry students to the academy — was a bust.

So in the night while his family slept he claimed Crocea Mors and set off on his adventure. The plan was simple; travel the twenty-five miles towards the next town on foot and take a bullhead from there. Jaune assumed that the task would be as simple in practice as it had been in its conception.

It hadn't taken more than a second of staring into the glowing red eyes of a beowolf for him to regret that assumption more than any other in his life. There was a road from town to town, that was true, but it was a road that cut through a forest. His mother had told him many times not to venture too close to the forest as he had grown up. As he grew older the years passed by peacefully, more and more time that had passed without a single incident of a grimm attack in or around the wooded area. It was made apparent on his first night that his conception of the forest road's peacefulness had been greatly exaggerated.

There he stood, sword drawn and shield held out to create a barrier between him and those demonically glowing eyes. Crocea Mors felt foreign in his hand as the weight of its shield was always trying to drag his left arm towards the ground. He had no idea how his father fought so comfortably with a shield that felt so heavy.

The beowolf looked on-edge. Jaune didn't know why he thought that. He had no idea what they looked like normally, but that was just was some corner of his brain thought. The creature had been sprinting when it ran right by him, doubling back only when it noticed the blond petrified in place. Grimm are attracted to human fear. Jaune standing there trying not to hyperventilate was more than enough to override whatever had sent the beast scrambling in the first place.

The beowolf pounced at Jaune. He thrust his shield out on instinct as his brain confused it with his sword arm. Having no martial prowess to speak of combined with the utter terror that racked his brain was not a combination conducive to orderly thinking. The creature used its claws to latch onto the top of his shield, its maw gaping and snapping as it attempted to create a toothy vice around Jaune's face.

He should have held onto his shield and rammed the wolf into any one of the hundreds of nearby trees, pinning it between to objects so he could impale the beowolf with his sword. That was the type of thinking a veteran of the sword and board might have had. A novice was more likely to scare, tossing his shield away to build momentary distance from the assaulting predator. If Jaune's position on the spectrum hadn't been made clear in abundance by that point his choice of response certainly did.

"Get away from me!" He shouted pointlessly, throwing his shield away and the beowolf with it. Nimble as the creature was it landed on the ground completely unharmed, charging him once more without a moment's hesitation.

Jaune wasn't trained to deal with grimm. No matter how much he begged his father he'd been refused. Every single time he asked his father would be told that he wasn't ready yet. Down to the very day before he ran he'd been told he wasn't ready. As Jaune swung his sword in a wide arc — the beowolf dodging effortlessly to his flank as it leaped for his jugular — he only wished that his dad has chosen differently.

Jaune didn't expect to be saved. He'd hoped, sure, but the road was seldom traveled and the chance that a rogue traveler in the middle of the night being huntsman trained only slimmed the already anorexic odds further. If there was a god it was clear that he delighted in presenting the unexpected. The beowolf was killed in the middle of its jump so fast that its deceased body was still carried forward by the momentum. It wasn't killed by a gun, for there was no sound of a shot having been fired. It wasn't felled by a combatant in melee, as far as Jaune could tell he was alone with the beast. There were only two things present that had not been there before; a small, cylindrical hole through the creature's skull…

And a pencil embedded firmly into the ground.

"Whoa!" Jaune shouted in alarm as the beowolf corpse knocked him to the ground. In the video games he'd played growing up when you killed a grimm their body just dissolved into nothingness in an instant. Jaune realized the actual process was much more gradual as pieces of the beast flaked off and disappeared. He also learned that grimm bled, and their blood was black. The blood oozed slowly from the creature's skull. It was like watching sludge coming out of a pipe in the way that clumps of it would roll out, retaining a semi-solid form as it cascaded onto his hoodie.

"Sorry about that." A voice apologized, pulling Jaune's attention from the morbid scene that was quite literally on top of him. "Got tired of dealing with those little critters so I scared em off. Guess I chased one right to you. I didn't think anyone would be traveling these roads at this time so I didn't check. My bad."

His savior — though it didn't feel quite right to address someone as such when they solved a problem they created — was a blond like he was. He was actually a similar height to Jaune as well. The similarities between the two extended to the distinct blue color of their eyes… weird. The most obvious of differences was their age; Jaune was still a teenager whereas the other man looked to be in his early thirties. A white and red cape cowled cloak over his shoulders partially concealed his orange and black striped top. Although his pants were normal enough in that they too were black to match his color scheme his shoes were not. Jaune couldn't help but notice the toeless shoes and find them a bit out of place for a forest expedition.

It was an odd thought to have with a dissolving beowolf atop his side as he lay somewhat crushed under its weight, but the man was so blasé about the whole situation that it had a vaguely calming effect. The man picked up the disappearing grimm and threw it off to the side, alleviating the burden from Jaune's ribs. "I got to it before it could do anything to you, but you okay?"

"Y-yeah." Jaune's voice hitched embarrassingly. The man gave him a reassuring smile as he offered an outstretched hand. More than a little ashamed at his pathetic display Jaune hastened to take the hand in order to stand level with the man. "Thank you…?"

"Not a prob- ah! That was an implied question!" Recognition flashed across the man's face. "That was you trying to ask for my name, right?"

"Errr, yes?" Jaune answered awkwardly. What a weird guy.

"Name's Naruto," Naruto informed him. "And…?"

"Jaune." He answered, much to the pleasure of Naruto. A broad grin of satisfaction stretched across the elder blond's face.

"It worked! You understood it was an implied question too!"

"Uhhhh…" Jaune had no idea what he was supposed to say to that.

"Sorry, sorry. The language here is a bit new to me." Naruto admitted unreservedly. "I got the words down pretty well, but the nuance of conversation is pretty challenging."

"No problem," Jaune said. Naruto's way of speaking felt a bit wordy for someone learning a language. 'Nuance' wasn't exactly a commonplace word for day to day use.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Naruto observed. Jaune was a little abashed by the directness. It took him a few moments to realize he'd only answered using short responses the whole time.

"Sorry! I just- I guess I'm a bit freaked out." Jaune smiled bashfully. "I'm not really used to grimm encounters. My heart is still racing!"

Naruto chuckled fondly. "Not a problem. I don't think civilians are used to fighting anything like that."

"I'm actually a huntsman in training at Beacon." Jaune frowned. Technically he wasn't now, but he would be in two weeks. Even more to the point, he wasn't really a huntsman at all! He would be, though. He'd make sure of it.

Naruto's eyes changed in that instant. The color of eyes changed to a dull yellow as his pupils changed to a bizarre bar shape, the rims of his eyes turning orange in the process. "You're definitely a civilian. The energy that huntsmen have is pretty weak, but you don't even have that. What's it they call here… aura?" Naruto paused as he considered. "Yeah, aura. You don't got any of that."

"Aura? What's that?" No, seriously, what the hell was that? Jaune had no idea. Was that some sort of weapon or tool that huntsmen had?

"Some sort of energy that huntsmen have. Not too sure what exactly it does yet, but I do know it makes them stronger." Something that all huntsmen had that he didn't? Was there something he'd missed? "Point is that you don't have it."

"Y-yes I do!" Jaune stammered.

"No, you don't. Trust me, I'm looking right now." Naruto pointed at his eyes. Jaune almost choked on his own spit as he tried to swallow. He didn't even know what aura was, but somehow Naruto could see it! Was that Naruto's semblance?! Could every huntsman just tell that he didn't have this aura stuff as soon as he got to Beacon?

"Please don't tell anyone!" Jaune begged as he bowed his head, hoping such an action would move Naruto to keep his secret.

"Why the hell would I tell anyone?" Naruto asked with clear bewilderment. "None of my business."

Jaune released a sigh of immense relief. "Thank you."

"Still," Naruto started, piercing Jaune's heart with nervousness once more. "Why don't you tell me what's going on while we walk. Maybe I can help."

"Walk? As in together?"

Naruto laughed. "Well, yeah. Plenty of those black puppies running around. After seeing how you handled the first one I'd feel pretty guilty if I left you and it came to a second encounter. Where you headed to anyways?"

Jaune wasn't sure whether or not he should answer. The fact that he really didn't want to run into another beowolf on his own ended up being enough to sway him. "Muspel. It's the next town over."

"You were gonna head all the way from this town to the next? I can't tell if you're brave or stupid. Guess I would know; gotta be a little stupid to be brave." Naruto chortled, enjoying a private joke.

"I didn't think there were grimm in this forest." Jaune defended himself reflexively. "There hasn't been a single incident for years."

"No such luck. There's about three of them within a mile of where we are now."

"How do you know that?" Jaune asked in utter bewilderment. Naruto just shrugged.

"Just a talent I have. Anyways, let's get moving. I'm escorting you at the price of one full story on what you're doing and why you're doing it."

Jaune didn't have much choice but to give in. Three bewolves within a mile of where they were was three too many.

"Fine." Jaune acquiesced. He wasn't thrilled to be telling his story to a stranger he just met, but if it kept his dream alive… so be it.

An orange blur shot through his vision like a bolt of lightning. Quickly climbing and circling Naruto as it moved further and further up his body. The orange thing came to rest on Naruto's shoulders, red eyes staring directly into Jaune's.

"You scared the rest of them off?" Naruto asked. Jaune wasn't sure what he was saying, but it became apparent he was not the conversation partner Naruto had in mind.

"Good. Make sure you shoo any others away from the towns. I don't want anyone dying because you were too lazy to chase some pups down."

And then there was silence.

"Don't give me that look. You're the one who said you wanted to do it. Not my fault you got bored."

More silence.

"Stop complaining." Apparently, that ended what we conversation Naruto had been having, as it was Jaune he addressed next. "The fox is named Kurama. Keep it a secret but he can talk."

 _Oooookaaayy. This guy is crazy_. Jaune thought to himself. Apparently his thoughts shown through to his face a little too clearly; Naruto looked irritated as the fox… laughed?

 _He's not crazy, brat._ A low, sonorous voice boomed inside Jaune's head. _Well, not in the way you're thinking at least._

"Get going, you pain in the ass." Naruto groused as he swatted the fox off his shoulder. "I don't want to see a single black puppy from here til Muspel."

 _Bastard_. Jaune heard the low voice once more as the fox took off into the forest. Was that the fox's voice? Kurama's voice?

"You know those things are called beowolves, right?" Jaune asked automatically. Something about hearing Naruto calling them puppies just felt so weird that he couldn't help but say something.

"Huh, got it." Naruto remarked as he picked up his pencil off the ground. He withdrew a small notebook from a satchel at his side and began to write as he spoke. "Black puppies are called beowolves. Thanks."

Jaune sighed for what felt like one too many times that night. This was not how he had expected his grand journey of becoming a huntsman to go.

"Anyways, let's walk and talk." Naruto insisted as he threw Jaune's shield straight at him. The youth fumbled awkwardly as he tried to catch it, making Naruto laugh, which made Jaune scowl. "So you want to be a huntsman?"

"Yeah…" Jaune admitted with yet another sigh. "I want to be a huntsman."


	2. Idiot or Genius?

_**Greetings and salutations! I did not expect to be posting this to fanfiction as we were only about halfway to the stretch goal for the project. Amazingly enough, somebody has chosen to commission the work to continue. Since the stretch goal has not been met, that means if the work ever ceases to be comissioned it will be discontinued until somebody commissions it again, or the stretch goal is met. Still, let's not dwell on the negatives! For now, we have a new series coming your way! I have not yet verified if the commissioner wishes to be credited or remain anonymous, but let's all thank him nonetheless!**_

 ** _I made a mistake with OFNT by basically treating the beginning as more of a hobby. I never intended to take writing it all too seriously, so my introduction to that series is incredibly subpar. Ever the man to strive for improvement, I refuse to make that mistake again. As with all fics pertaining to RWBY I've already had people ask when our traveling pair will get to Beacon. I'm not sure, but not terribly long. I want to make sure I develop everything sufficiently before diving into the meat of the bone that is Beacon Academy. I've wanted to rewrite parts of OFNT so badly. I especially want to remove that embarrassing as hell part where I forget Nagato had Madara's eyes... kms. I do leave it there as a reminder that I'm very new to this._**

 ** _OFNT was my first fic and I have learned a lot from it so far. I'm hoping to put some of that knowledge to use here. Yammering aside I want to thank everyone (commissioner especially) who have supported this work on pa+reon. In addition, I want to thank all those who comment on the fics that I write. I read each comment at least ten times as I'm writing the next chapter. The last chapter of OFNT was quite depressing as I knew it was a drop in quality due to my sickness. I'm back with a vengeance for this week's chapter to show people I haven't gone soft._**

 _ **With that being said let's get to it. I present to you chapter 2 of Fox and the Cub. See you guys next time!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 **Idiot or Genius?**

"Huh," Naruto responded. What exactly was he responding to? It wasn't a very articulate response, nor was it insightful. It was the kind of response you gave when someone told you that there was a decent show to watch on TV. Not even a mind-blowing one, more like something that was good enough to pass the time if you were bored. That's the kind of topic where one might expect to receive a response such as 'huh'.

To receive it when recounting your life story? Your dreams of being a huntsman dashed by the parents who were supposed to support you?! Hearing your brave tale about setting off from home to forge your own path?! That was not something you'd expect a response like that from!

"What do you mean, 'huh'?!" Jaune growled. The normally timid teen's reaction was positively aggressive. Someone reacting to your life story with vague indifference had that effect.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, confused.

"I want to be a protector of the people! I want to help those in need! My dad always said I wasn't ready, so here I am to prove him wrong! Don't you think that deserves more than a 'huh'?!"

"I mean, no?" Naruto answered. "Your old man probably just didn't want you dead. From what I've heard it sounds like these black creatures come a lot bigger than the pup-beowolves. If one of those was enough to take you down…"

Jaune's uncharacteristic head of steam ran out as he spoke in a tone that was considerably more glum. "I've never had any training. How could I beat one of the grimm?"

"I think that was your old man's worry. As you are I don't know if you'd even be worth training."

That hit Jaune hard. His mom had always told him that he shouldn't care what others think about him as long as he was happy with himself. The obvious pitfall of that approach was that it didn't provide the confidence he needed when he wasn't happy with himself. It was just one beowolf! Huntsmen killed those things in droves!

"In order for him to train me, I had to be trained enough to be worth training? That's like needing job experience for an entry-level job!"

Naruto chuckled as he shook his head. "Not exactly, but I get where you're coming from. It's pretty easy to get caught up in a way you've thought for so long, losing sight of any other ways of thinking. Kami knows I had the same problem when I was your age." Naruto finished wistfully.

"I'm not caught up on anything! I can't become a huntsman without training to become a huntsman!"

"Kids," Naruto grinned in amusement. "I bet you don't even know how different those two statements are. I'll give you a hint; I agree with what you just said, but I don't agree with what you said earlier."

 _What the hell?_ Jaune fumed silently. He'd just said the same thing twice, right? Naruto groaned exasperatedly. He practically had 'kids these days' plastered on his forehead in neon lights.

"I guess children don't keep track of their words too well. Just in case you don't remember what you said I'll remind you. The first time was about how could you get your dad to train you if he wouldn't do it because you weren't trained enough. The second time your words asked how you could become a huntsman without training." Naruto clarified, arching an almost accusatory eyebrow. "Not really sure how you thought those were the same thing."

Jaune still did think they were the same thing. "You have to have someone train you to become a huntsman. That's why they have academies in the first place! Trying to learn on your own is-"

"Impossible?" Naruto interrupted. "It definitely isn't. All methods of fighting were innovated at some point or another. Inefficient? I'm not going to argue that one. It's a hell of a lot easier to be taught something than to figure it out."

"Exactly!" Jaune shouted in vindication. "If I was trained-"

"If you were trained you'd be better than you are now and then you'd plateau pretty fast."

"Plateau?" Jaune asked.

"You'd get as good as you were going to get and then just stay there," Naruto answered. "I'm not surprised your dad didn't want to train you. He could probably get you good enough that you'd be sorta competent. For a father teaching his son that wouldn't be enough. You'd end up dead and he'd think it was his fault. And it would have been."

Naruto didn't give Jaune time to say anything before he kept talking. "You're a kid. There are plenty of things you're not going to get because of that. In a way that's your fault, then again in another, it isn't. Your father probably just wanted to make sure you were committed to your path. He can try and train you as strictly as he wants when you're under his watch, but he can't always have his eyes on you. For all he knew you didn't have the motivation to keep up the training you'd need. Ya can't blame him for that either — when he left you to figure things out yourself you chose to do nothing."

 _Being a huntsman is about doing. You don't get that._ Jaune recalled his father's words. Words that bore a striking similarity to Naruto's own at that moment.

"Even if I trained by myself it wouldn't be enough to be a huntsman." Jaune rationalized.

"Probably not," Naruto agreed. "You'd need someone to train you. I've met plenty of prodigies. You are not among them. More than that you don't even have the attitude of a genius of hard work. Gotta face the facts that you've got nothing going for you — at least as far as becoming a huntsman is concerned."

Jaune felt like he was delivered a death sentence. He had only managed to make it a few hours into his journey of becoming a huntsman before being told not to bother. His face sunk as he forced himself not to tear up. His dad had told not only him but all of his sisters that the only time they could cry was a tragedy outside of their control. If you were gonna cry about something you could have changed then you'd be better off spending the energy you would have crying making sure you never made a mistake like that again.

Naruto rolled his eyes theatrically at Jaune. "I can tell from your kicked-puppy look that you misheard me again. I didn't say you couldn't be a huntsman, I said there's nothing about you that's remotely huntsmanlike."

A bird squawk pierced through the dead of night. He was made to realize how early in the morning it was. Not by the bird, rather it was the silence that followed that drove it home. By his guess, it was probably two to three in the morning. The fact that he was even awake a constant reminder that he was doing something he shouldn't… or at least something his parents would say he shouldn't.

"What does that mean?" Jaune asked, frustrated at both Naruto's words and his own lack of understanding. "I could be a huntsman but I wouldn't be any good at it?"

The insurmountable denseness of the younger blond was enough to drive Naruto's mouth to twist in consternation. "Look, it isn't that easy to explain." One look at Jaune's expression was enough to tell Naruto that wasn't an answer he'd be accepting. "You're weirdly determined about something you've shown absolutely zero determination for. I think it'd be better for me to show than tell. You probably won't believe it unless you see it or live it."

"I'm pretty sure that's an insult," Jaune grumbled. The day had not done any favors for his already minuscule ego, that's for sure.

"It wasn't an insult and it wasn't a compliment. You're a kid and you act like a kid. I could lecture you 'til I was blue in the face and you were falling asleep on your feet — doesn't mean you'd learn anything."

Jaune's eyebrow twitched in agitation. "I'm not that much of an idiot."

"As far as I can tell you're right." Naruto agreed. Jaune would be lying if he'd said he wasn't shocked by the admission. It felt like a majority of what Naruto had said was basically a verbal pummeling. "You don't seem like a belligerent idiot, just empty-headed."

The backhanded compliment signified that the brief abation had come to an end. Arguing wasn't in Jaune's nature. He was more the type to do as he was told, the type to doubt himself. At that point, his unprecedented supply of fight seemed to abandon him as he returned to something that felt far more in character.

Submission.

"Maybe I'm just useless." He mumbled quietly as they continued walking. At least he thought they'd continue walking. Naruto held out his arm, forcibly stopping Jaune as he ran into it. He had to look to see it was Naruto's arm — the impact felt more like running into a steel beam.

"Never quit on yourself." It was so dark that Jaune couldn't see three feet in front of him, but he could see Naruto's eyes. They were blue pools filled with compassion tinged with grief. "When you quit on yourself you aren't the only one who pays the price." Naruto was content to say nothing as he let that ominous statement hang in the air.

They continued on wordlessly. Jaune didn't know how much time passed. It felt like a lot of time. Honestly, he wasn't sure if that was because time had passed or that he wasn't used to silence. A family of ten wasn't exactly the quietest place you could grow up. By comparison, Naruto seemed much more accustomed to the silence. At ease described how he'd acted in everything they'd done. That beowolf had been less than a foot away from snapping its mouth around Jaune's neck and Naruto was more apologetic than worried.

Jaune had no idea how long they trekked for. The only thing he was sure of was that he didn't want to be the one who asked to stop. His feet ached, he was tired, and the adrenaline his body had supplied him both for running away from home and the fight with the Grimm had left his body feeling lethargic while his brain was completely frazzled. That didn't mean he was going to give in and complain, however much he wanted to. Naruto had taken one look at him and said he wasn't a huntsman. That made Naruto his first test. If he could convince the older blond that he was huntsman material then maybe he could do the same with the professors at Beacon.

Naruto eventually called for them to stop when they came to a small clearing next to the road. It wasn't anything more than a large stretch of grass, yet Naruto deemed that was enough. "Set up whatever you intended to camp in and get some sleep. You have a long day tomorrow."

It felt strange going to bed right as the sun was beginning to peek its head, providing dim light for their vision. Jaune was too grateful for the call to rest that he hadn't noticed Naruto's choice of noun when describing what tomorrow would bring. Jaune shrugged off his pack and set it down on the grass beneath him. Taking a knee he unzipped it, withdrawing an assemblable tent packed neatly into its own sub-container. He had to unzip that as well before withdrawing the tent's components piece by piece.

Assembling it was slow work. The tent, although meant for two people, was little more than canvas held together by long and flexible poles. Those poles were subdivided into much smaller poles, held together by some kind of elastic string. His dad had some magic way of shaking the pole after he'd put three of them together that made all the rest fall in line perfectly. It was never something he'd taught Jaune to do. "You want to know how to do it? Try figuring it out."

Naruto was uninterested in Jaune's novice assembly of his accommodations. He'd withdrawn a small piece of paper from the satchel on his side that looked like it belonged in a dollhouse. At least it did at first. The paper expanded in a puff of smoke into a prodigiously large scroll. Following up his initial magic act with another, Naruto produced a blanket by placing his hand on the scroll with another puff of smoke. Laying the blanket at the base of a tree on the edge of the clearing he sat down, back against the tree with legs crossed beneath him.

Jaune had never seen anything like that before. He resisted the impulse to act on his curiosity, instead restraining himself from asking. He'd already shown Naruto that he had no idea what that aura stuff was. However magical it seemed, it was probably just another huntsman thing that he was supposed to know. Jaune got a small pang of satisfaction knowing that he was at least pretending to act more huntsmanlike. It was quickly overridden by the fact that it was just that, pretending.

"Do you want me to keep first watch?" Jaune asked when he finally finished pitching his tent. He knew that much from cartoons; when a party of adventurers went to sleep they always had a watchman so that they'd be safe while they slept. That was a pretty professional suggestion if he did say so himself.

"We've got the watch handled." Naruto flatly rejected him. "Kurama and I are still fresh and you look dead on your feet. Better that you rest up so you're fresh for tomorrow. Really, don't worry about it."

Jaune would have put up more of a fight if he hadn't found himself agreeing with Naruto. At seventeen he wouldn't say he was an athlete, but he wasn't that out of shape either. Considering himself above average he'd thought that his physical conditioning was more than adequate for walking. It turned out that even something as mundane as walking hurt if you did it long enough. As a result, his desire to protest Naruto's decision was overruled by his body's welcoming of it.

Jaune mumbled his thanks as he unzipped and entered his tent. Although he felt it was a cold treatment for the man who saved his life, he did it anyway. He didn't dislike Naruto. It wasn't anything that simple. It was just… Naruto had swooped in and saved him from the grimm right when he was about to die. That was what Jaune wanted to be doing, not what he wanted to be done for him. He hadn't said as much, but Jaune could tell that Naruto was a huntsman. Being around him was a constant reminder that Jaune wasn't one.

His first day after running away from home had him falling asleep early in the morning, plagued by thoughts of inadequacy. As his brain lulled him to sleep a realization crossed Jaune's mind; Naruto was kind of like his dad.

 _They're both doers._ Jaune thought to himself. He wasn't yet, but that didn't matter. The whole point of leaving home was to change himself and help people. He'd do it. He'd show everyone.

* * *

Jaune awoke naturally. Honestly, that wasn't how he'd expected to start the day. He'd been so tired that Naruto should have woken him up long before he ever had the chance to wake up on his own. At least he thought so. Jaune expected six, maybe seven hours of sleep tops. Maybe he hadn't slept that long?

That idea was put out to pasture when he emerged from his tent, only to see the sun setting. That meant he'd slept at least ten hours. Jaune couldn't remember exactly what time the sun rose and set in August. It should have been around five or six? That was his guess at least.

While the sky embodied the passage of time, Naruto's presence contradicted it. He couldn't tell if the man had moved, certain that he was in the same position he'd left him in the previous night. The only difference was the fox, Kurama, coiled comfortably in his lap. For how staunch Naruto's rejection of sharing watch had been he was completely out of it.

At least that's what he thought. All it took was a single step towards the pair and Kurama's ears twitched. "You finally awake?" Naruto asked without opening his eyes.

"Sorry." Jaune apologized meekly. The fire of defiance burning within him had been quenched in his sleep.

"Nothing to be sorry about." Naruto rose from the ground, displacing Kurama from his lap. He leaned his upper body from side to side as he stretched. "I wanted you to be fully rested for today. Now you are. Doesn't really make a difference what time of day we travel as long as we do get some mileage done. Pack your that tent up and get ready for the hardest day of your life."

There was no nuanced noun usage this time around for Jaune to miss. "Hardest day? What do you mean?"

"You wanted to be a protector of the people. I'm probably the best person in the world to tell you what that takes. So let's see if you got what it takes."

A challenge? Jaune couldn't decide whether he was more nervous or excited. He'd never been given an opportunity to prove himself! "What do you want me to do?"

Naruto held his hand flat towards the ground. It was like the very earth responded to his will as it started to break, its solid form fading away as it was reduced to small particles of dust. Or was it sand? Semantics aside the deconstructed earth reconstructed itself into a solid bar levitating in the air. With a flick of Naruto's wrist, the bar floated over to Jaune, ending directly above his head.

"For the next fifteen minutes, you need to hold onto that and not let go."

 _That's not that bad._ Jaune thought. It might have been worse for some people, but he'd always been pretty gangly. His lack of weight always served him well in free hangs in P.E. class. He grabbed onto the bar and it gradually rose higher, eventually lifting him off the ground. The bar felt easier on his hands than he'd expected it to.

"Do you want me to do any pull-ups or anything?" Jaune asked. This felt a little too easy for his first challenge to prove he could be a huntsman.

"Feel free to do some if you want. Doesn't really matter to me. You just can't let go for fifteen minutes... starting now."

Jaune decided he would not be doing any pull-ups. Maybe some people would have thought that showing off their physical capabilities would have been the right thing to do in front of someone who was testing them. Jaune decided he'd prefer to devote his energy into passing instead of passing with flying colors. Better to succeed five tasks unimpressively than to fail two because you burned yourself out.

No plan survives contact with the enemy. It was a saying he'd heard not from his dad, but his mom. After being forced to do a pull-up within the first minute Jaune felt like he was beginning to better understand what that meant. Naruto had raised the bar high enough that a not at all welcome fall awaited him should he choose to let go. Jaune thought that was just a mental game. In reality, it didn't really matter how high he went, the workout remained the same. It became clear that the height was a necessity for what would make the task difficult.

That difficulty being that Naruto deliberately positioned him so that his shins ran into thick branches should he do nothing. Not only that, he'd make sure to speed the beam up right near the point of impact to make sure it would hurt if Jaune's shins connected with the branch. It turned out that doing a pull-up just happened to let him avoid a painful impact. That was problematic in more ways than one. First and foremost was that although Jaune was skinny, he wasn't very muscular. Hanging was one thing, active workouts were completely different. Being lanky didn't lend itself well to that kind of workout unless you had trained to do it.

It was just five minutes in and Jaune was beginning to feel the pressure. Both the obvious physical pressure that was being out on his body as well as the equally obvious pressure being put on him by the peanut gallery. _Nine minutes. Do you want the over or under?_ Kurama's voice resonated like it was coming from the center of Jaune's skull.

"I'll take the over. Kid says he wants to be a protector, so this much should be nothing."

 _I wanted the under anyway. Brat doesn't have what it takes to protect himself, let alone others. He's gonna cave and I'll be the victor._ Kurama smirked, looking Jaune directly in the eyes as he did so.

"Can you… stop it. You're distracting me." Jaune forced the words out amidst a pull-up he had to transition into pushing up on the bar so that he could avoid a branch that was aimed at knee height.

 _You think an enemy is going to stop distracting you because you ask? Deal with it brat._

"He's right. You want to walk a rough path? Get used to rocks in your shoes." Naruto lectured as he walked beneath him. Jaune's only response was another pull-up to avoid the next branch. He'd show Naruto. He'd show them all.

Naruto won the over by forty-seven seconds. Jaune had felt his strength failing him, opting to let go before he collided shin first into a particularly thick branch. You'd think the victory would make him pleased. It didn't. "Why'd you stop? You still have five minutes to go."

"I'm… so tired… that's… all I can… do." Jaune gasped desperately for breath. It wasn't like the exercise had been that demanding of his lungs, more that his body had used so many muscles that his entire upper body was screaming for oxygen. When he put it like that it made more sense why he was breathing like he'd run a marathon. Ignorant or uncaring of his exhaustion the bar of sand lowered itself down to him once more.

"Grab it," Naruto ordered.

"Didn't you… hear me? I can't… do anymore."

 _Grab it._ Kurama echoed.

"I can't!"

"Oh well," Naruto shrugged. "If you don't grab it I guess I'll just have to restrain you and cart you home. I'd rather you give up here than give up when someone's life is on the line."

If there was anything that could galvanize him to try again it was the thought of going home. He could barely even lift his arms above his head, but he grabbed onto that bar and held on for dear life. Jaune hadn't been lying when he said he had no more gas in the tank. As the bar carried him into the air he didn't even attempt to pull himself up. He couldn't do it if he tried. The only thing he could do was steel his nerves and tighten his grip as the branch of the tree smacked against his shins. It was a painful stinging sensation, but Jaune didn't let go.

"Don't give up. You got five minutes." Naruto encouraged him. The harshness of the training aside, he genuinely seemed to be rooting for Jaune.

 _He's going to give up. I told you he doesn't have what it takes._ If Naruto was the carrot, Kurama was the stick. Jaune was a meek person. Verbal abuse was more likely to make him feel down on himself than inspire him to prove someone wrong. Despite how much he wanted to prove everyone who thought he couldn't be a huntsman wrong… well, could he? As Jaune felt his strength failing again he began to believe that all of this might have been a mistake.

"He's not going to give up," Naruto chuckled to Kurama. "Kids rebel against their parents because they've got something to prove. Don't you remember how much of a pain in the ass Boruto was? If Jaune gave up now he'd just be admitting his dad was right about him not being ready to be a huntsman. If he gives up now he admits his dream was just that. He knows if he gives up now he's just going to keep giving up. He left home to be somebody different than who everyone thought he was and you think he's gonna quit here?" Naruto laughed. "Nah, he's got more in him than that. I'm sure of it."

Did he know any of that? Jaune didn't think that he had, yet the words resonated with him like he'd believed them his whole life. He'd been tired of being told he wasn't ready yet. If he gave up now, when would he stop? His body was screaming for him to stop holding on. His fingers were numb, his arms couldn't decide if they were aching or burning, the skin on his shins felt like it was going to split open from impact after impact on the sturdy branches. It was so hard to hold on right then, yet somehow Jaune knew that if he let go it would be even harder to start again.

Five agonizing minutes passed in a haze of pain and agony the likes of which Jaune had never felt before. When he compared what he'd just experienced to the stories of huntsmen fighting with broken legs, shattered hands or after having been stabbed he began to realize how easy his life had been. He didn't have any time to elaborate on that thought before he was lowered to the ground by the levitating bar. Even as his feet touched the ground he refused to release his hold on the bar. His brain had been fighting the signals to let go for so long that his hands weren't listening to him despite his conscious efforts.

"Fifteen minutes!" With that cheer Naruto clapped him on the shoulder, causing Jaune's fingers to finally release their iron grip. He fell flat on his ass before sprawling himself onto his back in total exhaustion. "Small break in the middle there... but hey, you rallied!"

 _Could have been better._ Kurama sniffed high and mighty from his perch on Naruto's shoulder.

"Could've," Naruto agreed. "Still, that tells us a lot about how to move forward."

 _I was hoping our first student here would be clever. I suppose starting with an idiot is more fitting for you._

"Come on now," Naruto chastised the fox. "Not an idiot — a genius of hard work."

 _I don't care how you dress it up; Lee was an idiot._

Jaune could only take so much banter, even in his exhausted state. "What are you talking about?"

It was Kurama who answered. _We're talking about idiots because that's how you learn._ _There are three kinds of students; talented, clever, and idiotic._

"Hardworking," Naruto corrected. "Talented students are ahead of the curve. They can snowball that lead into becoming the best. Funnily enough, if they don't have any of the other characteristics they usually don't."

 _They tend to give up pretty easily if they don't have a drive to move forward. Don't know what to do when things get difficult because it had all been so easy for them before._ Kurama agreed. _Clever people can go both ways. They can become formidable, using their intellect to pull ahead. They can also use their smarts to avoid working and never really go anywhere._

"Shikamaru, Shikadai, and Boruto all started on the bad end of the spectrum before working their way up," Naruto added on for their benefit. It obviously wasn't for Jaune's because he had no idea who the heck those people were.

 _And then the idio- hard workers._ Kurama changed his tune after a harsh glare from Naruto. _Easily the most likely to fail out of the three because innately they've got nothing going for them. The only positive the hard workers have is that when they set their mind to something they have a one-track mind about chasing it down. When a hard worker starts down a path they're too stupid to find their way off. Hence, idiot._

"As long as you chase something down with everything you've got you'll get it eventually. Doesn't matter if you aren't the best to begin with, just keep putting all your effort into whatever you're trying at until you are. That's the philosophy of a genius of hard work."

Kurama smirked. _Which is exactly what Naruto was. Even as pathetic as you are you weren't as tragic as this moron. He tried his hardest for years only to still be terrible._

"Ancient history," Naruto growled. "I can't deny it, though. I had to repeat a few years at school because I was that bad. I just kept at it long enough to get it right."

That was more than a small shock. Naruto had been an idiot when he was a kid? He felt bad for using Kurama's term, it was just… repeating school? Jaune had never considered himself smart, but he'd never came close to needing to repeat a year. Even though he'd had such a bad start Naruto had been able to handle that beowolf as easily as Jaune would have eaten breakfast.

Jaune kept the conversation going with a little more hope than he'd had previously. "So how did that help you figure out how to move forward? Does that mean you know how to teach me?"

"I guess claiming it told us by itself was a bit of a stretch," Naruto admitted. "Probably more accurate to say that it confirmed what we'd suspected."

"That I'm an idiot?" Jaune sighed, recalling Kurama's words.

"Kami, this is why I hate it when you use the term idiot you damn fox. People hate it when you call them stupid." Naruto groused. "I don't think of it the same way Kurama does. All it means is that you're going to have to work really damn hard to get better, just like I did. Doesn't mean it's impossible, just difficult. You'll have to work twice as hard to be as good as someone who is talented or clever and eight times as hard to be as good as someone who's both."

 _It takes a lot of time. You don't hear about too many idiots making it across the finish line because of how much damn work they have to do to make it there. A talented person could basically show up and do what would take you weeks of work to accomplish. After seeing that a majority of those not blessed with talent whine to their gods and quit. They'll complain about genetics, talent, that they weren't trained, or some other shit that doesn't matter. All those are just excuses for why they're going nowhere._

Jaune flinched at the not-so-subtle attack on himself. He'd complained about not being trained that very morning. There was validity to that argument in his opinion. He didn't think he could have pieced together how to kill that beowolf by himself without anyone showing him how. At the very least that point was debatable. What wasn't was how poor his physical conditioning had been.

His father had told him stories about huntsmen marching for days on end, uphill, in the rain only for them to have to fight a swarm of grim when they'd reached the peak of their exhaustion. He'd only had to do pull-ups for fifteen minutes, and even then he'd almost quit halfway through. That had nothing to do with being trained. He'd always thought there was no point in training himself physically if there was no one to teach him to fight grimm once he was finally in top shape.

 _"You'd get as good as you were going to get and then you'd stay there."_ Naruto's words flashed through Jaune's mind. Idiots didn't fail because they were idiots; they failed because they gave up. In his case, it was more like a failure to start trying than quitting. That's what this whole thing was supposed to be, wasn't it? His running away from home was to prove he could be a huntsman and protect the people who needed him.

So why had he been ready to give up on something as simple as pull-ups?

"Well, your arms are probably lead at this point. Guess we'll have to train your core next. I can't tell if I'm shocked or unsurprised that you did pull-ups the whole time." Naruto had a small smirk on his face as he said that. Jaune's brain froze as he attempted to wrap his mind around what had been said. A small corner of his mind understood, yet received a vehement rejection from the rest of his psyche.

"What do you mean shocked? You told me to do them!" Jaune shouted.

 _For the next fifteen minutes, you need to hold onto that and not let go._ Kurama quoted Naruto's command with a shit-eating grin. _He didn't say what you needed to hold onto it with or that you needed to hold on the same way the whole time. You just took the hardest path and went with it because you couldn't think of anything else._

"A hard worker!" Naruto proclaimed proudly.

 _An idiot._ Kurama sighed.

Jaune wasn't sure at that point whether he was a hard worker, an idiot, or some combination of the two. The only thing he knew for certain was that those two were absolute bastards.

"Come on now, no point in laying around. Log the bar beneath your knees and grip it with your legs. Same exact thing except this time you'll be working your core, you'll hit your head if you fail, and it'll be twenty minutes."

It became apparent that Jaune's travel to the next city would be filled with nothing but training and the many types of pain that came with it. If he went forward he'd either make it to the city safely or suffer some training workout induced death in the process. If he went back he'd go back to being the same Jaune he'd always been. He had to remind himself that he'd wanted to quit midway through the first exercise. A full day of physical exertion to that degree might very well be lethal. And yet…

"Grip it with my legs, you said?"

* * *

 ** _That's all for now, folks! I'm still working out a precise schedule for this, but you can expect at least one more chapter this month! If you wish to see this become a weekly series please support me at_** ** _p a treon . com (slash) Faulkner._**


	3. Passion Burns Briefly

_**Greetings and salutations! Welcome to chapter 3 of F &C! It turns out this is also the last chapter before we get to Beacon, so that's neat. I've enjoyed writing the interactions between Jaune and Naruto in this chapter. Trying to wrap my mind around exactly how mature Naruto would be as a centenarian has been a blast. I enjoy seeing some of his more old-man philosophies clash with some of his more childish tendencies. Not much of that yet, but it's all in my head.**_

 ** _I wanted to get this chapter done early so that I could free up my schedule moving forward. The next chapter of F &C will be around 4/15 unless it miraculously hits its stretch goal before then. And... uhhh... yeah that's it. I don't got much to say, this fic is still in its infant stages after all. I don't really have much to talk about. So let me ask you guys (mainly because I'm curious): Do you think a harder working, nose to the grindstone Jaune would be able to woo Weiss? In the show a majority of her gripes seem to be about him being cheesy and pathetic. Does Jaune go the Weiss route while Pyrrha gets left out in the cold? Who knows?! Well, I do, but still._**

 ** _I present to you chapter 3 of Fox and the Cub. I'll see you guys next time!_**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 **Passion Burns Briefly**

Jaune felt he'd learned a pretty philosophical lesson after that first day of training. Your perception of your physical limits and your actual physical limits had very little in common. It was a lesson he'd had hammered into him for the past four hours. He'd been training for the past seven hours in total. It had taken only a mere three to convince himself that he was going to die training that day. The past four hours had been enlightening in the same way traversing through the flames of hell was enlightening; Jaune had learned things he wasn't ready to know.

Though there were many lessons, far and away the most pertinent was that he'd underestimated what huntsmen were capable of. Jaune wasn't sure if Naruto was showing off, hammering his lesson home, or just bored of walking, but he joined Jaune in a multitude of exercises. Joining was a stretch. It was more like someone who made a career in theoretical physics had decided to sit in on a preschooler learning to count.

When Naruto told Jaune to do some hanging crunches he'd decided to join him. Jaune did what was asked of him; folding his upper body towards his hanging legs to avoid being hit on the head by Naruto's sadistically placed branches. The older blond grew weary of the mundanity of the exercise within the span of a minute. He started from a dangling position just like Jaune, holding his own bar of sand with his legs. With a large swinging motion, he created enough momentum with the added force of his core to flip himself all the way up so that he ended sitting on the bar. From there he fell forward, catching the bar with his legs once more.

Naruto did that for five minutes before he'd gotten bored. From there he swung from tree branch to bar of sand to branch to bar and so on. He moved more like a monkey than a man. For each exercise he assigned Jaune he found some way to complicate and intensify it for himself as they'd continued on. Traveling exclusively by means of floating sand the entire time.

The workouts varied greatly throughout the day. They pushed Jaune so far past what he believed his limits to be he wasn't sure if people had limits in the first place. On the seventh hour that became answered as he collapsed onto the ground, unable to move in the slightest no matter what he told his body. "Good work today. How you feeling?" Naruto asked the boy who more resembled a heap of body parts than a person.

Jaune was so far gone the only way he could respond was with a whimper. Naruto laughed at that as he grabbed him by the shoulders. "I know you probably don't want to hear this, but we got one more thing to do today."

Jaune couldn't even shake his head in protest due to a nasty workout that'd involved him holding onto a piece of cloth with his teeth and dangling from the sandy bar. He honestly wasn't even sure what that workout had accomplished other than making his neck feel like it couldn't move side to side. Despite the legion of silent protests that Jaune inundated Naruto with, the elder blond still picked him up and set him down in the standing splits. His legs, along with most every other part of his body, were entirely jelly by this point, so resisting in any capacity was nothing but a pipe dream.

Naruto wordlessly began to push Jaune deeper and deeper into the splits. In a gallows humor sort of way, Jaune wondered if he'd even realize when he hit the limits of his flexibility; his legs already hurt, so how would he know the difference? In his umpteenth unfortunate discovery that day he found out that his body still had more pain receptors that could be fired off even in his state that felt closer to agonizing death than anything else. Prioritizing the safety of his legs, his body gave him limited control of his neck so that he could shake his head in an effort to signal Naruto to stop pushing.

He kept pushing until Jaune's waist was about half an inch lower to the ground and then stopped. "Damn, that's disappointing," Naruto muttered in clear dissatisfaction. Jaune's hips were still close to a foot off the ground even after Naruto had forced that extra half inch. "Flexibility is one of those things that a lot of fighters skimp out on. The problem is that learning to fight when you're only this flexible is going to hammer in a lot of bad habits in your movements and kicks."

That made some sense. Jaune had heard a lot of fighting involved muscle memory. Even if you become more flexible down the road that didn't mean your muscle memory was suddenly going to start accounting for those newfound capabilities. As unfortunate as it was there was no other option for Jaune but to do just that. There was no magic trick to make him more flexible.

There wasn't a magic trick, but there was a medieval method that his brain hadn't even paused to consider. Naruto wrapped his left arm all the way around Jaune's upper body, trapping his arms to his chest. With his right arm, he overcame the force of resistance Jaune's legs had been providing and brutally forced him down into full splits. There was no mind over matter to be had; Jaune could feel his muscles and ligaments tearing as he was forced to the ground.

His body supplied him with a surge of adrenaline to fight off his attacker, temporarily reinvigorating his body to struggle against his attacker. Any attempts at resistances proved predictably futile. Naruto's grip might as well have been an iron beam wrapped around his torso. His legs, broken as some of the muscles controlling them now were, could offer even less resistance than his upper body.

"Normally this is something you want to do as a kid." Naruto tried to distract him from the searing pain. It felt like the elder had ripped his muscles to the point of internal bleeding. "As a child, your muscles are looser, more flexible. As we age they settle into inflexibility unless constantly maintained. Doing this gradually would teach you too many bad ticks when you started learning to fight. So, here we are."

Tears of pain filled Jaune's eyes as he accepted his fate. No matter how he struggled there was no way out of Naruto's grip. "As a protector, your job is to try and save others from pain they cannot handle. What they don't tell you in school is that means dealing with a lot of that pain yourself. If you want to protect others from their pain you need to forge yourself into someone who can shoulder it."

Jaune couldn't argue with anything that was being said. It was less due to his agreement with Naruto's incredibly overkill view of the world and more the fact that his vocal chords were currently taken over by his instinct to howl in agony, his brain harboring some vain hope that somebody would save him.

"Just a few more seconds now," Naruto assured Jaune in a soothing voice. "We're almost there," Naruto used his left arm that had hold of his upper body to twist him left and right to stretch his legs just a little further. The bellows of agony from Jaune's lips were bloodcurdling. "And… we're done."

On cue with his words, Naruto's right hand dropped from Jaune's shoulder to his right leg with a green glow. Jaune had found Naruto's ability to turn earth into sand magical, but as the pain in his right leg began to fade away like a distant memory he was certain there was nothing more magical than this. After spending twenty seconds on his right leg Naruto switched off his arms and began to grip his torso with his right. That freed his left to work the same exact magic he had on his left leg. Within a minute both legs felt fine. Good- great, even! His legs were the only part of his body that wasn't in pain.

"Wha- What?" Jaune asked in total bafflement. He was still in the full splits, yet somehow his legs were completely pain-free. Naruto released him and proceeded to walk in front of him.

"Let's just leave it as what it is; you're more flexible now. I'm not one to hand out freebies like this. You're going to need to work for everything you wanna get, it's just that flexibility is pretty damn important." Naruto said as his glowing hands moved up from Jaune's legs to his arms. It was like those magical hands were sapping the exhaustion right out of him.

"You don't want me to learn any bad habits when I start training?" Jaune asked. His brain was still in a state of shock. His response was less a matter of comprehension and more its way of his brain parroting back information it had already heard because it knew it was supposed to respond.

Naruto nodded emphatically as he hovered his hand over Jaune's stomach. "Exactly. I've seen plenty of people who learn to fight in a style that accommodates their current flexibility and it never gets updated, even if they actually become flexible. One of the few things I'm willing to just give a person without them earning it just because of how much of a pain in the ass it is," Naruto sighed. "Plus, it serves as a pretty good message for people with moronic views about protectors. If you can't handle that much pain then how the hell can you be trusted to fight when someone goes and runs you through with a sword?"

Jaune thought the injury from the forced splits was more debilitating than something like being stabbed. He wondered how many huntsmen prepared themselves for the idea of fighting injured. Jaune had always just assumed that if he trained hard enough he could avoid being injured, exhausted, or anything bad happening to him. This one day of training had done more than flip that on his head — it had smashed it into pieces.

"Are you healing me?" Jaune asked as the pain in his abdomen receded just as the burning in his arms and legs had before it. Naruto nodded as he moved his hands up to Jaune's neck. "Why?"

"That's actually a pretty smart question," Naruto patted him on the head with one green hand. Jaune may not have appreciated being treated like a kid but there was no way in hell he was going to bite the hand that healed him. "Normally learning to deal with pain like this is an important part of being a protector. If we had all the time in the world I would have cut this training off two hours in so you could rest and heal on your own."

Even if the pain in his body had been negated that didn't mean he hadn't suffered it for hours on end. Jaune couldn't decide whether to curse Naruto or curse himself for not having trained more before he set out to become a huntsman. He felt nobody could blame him for either. "Why didn't you just heal me after each exercise?"

"Following such a smart question with such a stupid one. The joys of youth." Naruto shook his head theatrically. Jaune had the energy to retort, he just didn't. Whether he admitted it or not, Naruto had quickly won his respect. "If I did that then you wouldn't have gotten to experience the joy of being a protector." Naruto smiled at his own sarcasm. "Like I said earlier — if you want to save people from their pain you'll have to be able to withstand a lot of it yourself. Nature of the job, really."

Jaune couldn't find it in himself to argue. He wasn't much one for debate to begin with. Not to mention there was probably some truth in Naruto's words. "Being so exhausted you feel like you're going to die isn't exactly well advertised."

They were traveling exclusively by moonlight on Naruto's floating sand platform at that point. Even through the darkness, Jaune could see Naruto's expression sober up. "It really isn't. It's actually one of the reasons I decided to be a professor here. Too many kids entering a war when they don't know what a war is. Can't say things were perfect where I came from… better than they are here, though."

"You're a professor?" Jaune questioned him. It was a weird thing to be both surprised and not simultaneously. Being a teacher helped explain why Naruto had taken him under his wing so readily. Tearing his leg muscles apart by force seemed a lot less scholarly in comparison. Was that just how professors taught?

That was not an enjoyable thought.

"Yeah. Been a teacher before, but I'm getting a new gig this year." Naruto laid back on the spacious sand platform. "Decided it was time to move away from where I lived. Get a fresh start and all that, you know?"

"Funnily enough, yes." Jaune chuckled. "I was sick of being who people expected me to be. I wanted to be someone different."

"Exactly!" Naruto slapped his hand down on the sand in passionate agreement. "Everyone knew me where I'm from. There was more to it than that, I guess. I needed a change of scenery; somewhere without so many memories."

"Exactly." Jaune agreed. With his past, it felt like everyone expected him to continue on the same way he always had. His mom told him not to let other people's opinions bother him, but they were heavy anyways.

"Good man." Naruto thumped Jaune on the shoulder. It was a hit Jaune felt he could only take because the blond had fixed his body just minutes before. "I look forward to training you — both here and beyond."

"Beyond?" Jaune asked confusedly. He was grateful to Naruto for teaching him now, but once he got to Beacon it would be a prof-

 _No… oh god no…_ Realization sank its hooks into Jaune, ignorant of protest or any sense of human decency. At that moment he realized he'd rationalized putting up with Naruto's training with the belief that it was an incredibly temporary measure that would give him long-term benefits over his years at the academy. The idea that it wasn't temporary? That was enough that Jaune almost soiled himself.

"Where are you teaching?" Jaune asked hopefully. There were plenty of academies that Naruto could be teaching at. They may have been on the same landmass as Beacon, but they weren't exactly close to it. There was no reason to believe that-

"Beacon." Any and all hope was drawn, quartered, set ablaze in an oil drum, and then had its ashes discreetly buried. "It was the only academy that didn't involve a boat ride. Could have done it on foot, I suppose" Naruto muttered the last bit of nonsense under his breath.

Jaune hadn't paid attention to anything being said after the elder blond had spoken the word 'Beacon'. He wasn't sure who Kami was, yet he offered a prayer for his health to her anyway. If Naruto was to be his professor, then Kami knew he'd need it.

* * *

There was an obvious downside to having his injured and aching muscles healed the night before that Jaune had failed to take into account. Obviously, since he was healed, there was no available justification for why he couldn't do the workout from yesterday all over again. Jaune thought that his nigh PTSD caused by the events of yesterday was a compelling fallback argument. It wasn't for Naruto. The elder blond had simply said "I've met people with far more cause for it than you. Stop your whining.".

Jaune may not have been the manliest of men, but that didn't change the fact that he was still a man. Fresh as his body was he didn't want to complain too loudly out of fear that it would be pretty lame of him. This was a journey to change himself, after all. A fact he'd had to remind himself of many times already to will his terribly unwilling body into motion. Once more by hour three he didn't care much for machismo and began complaining quite loudly indeed. And then by hour four, he found himself with so little energy to spare that it was all he could do to keep up with the workouts being assigned to him.

That wasn't to say they hadn't had conversation leading up to that point. "Why doesn't Kurama just float along with us?" He'd asked.

"I told you already. He hates flying." Naruto had answered.

Some questions he'd asked with hopes of learning something. "What's the best way to win a fight?"

"The way that balances the minimization of risk for both you, your squad, civilians, and any other innocent that might be in danger." Naruto had responded. It fell in line with many answers Jaune had received from his dad. It was more or less just a fancy way of being told to figure it out himself.

"What… do you think… is the best thing… a huntsman can have…?" Jaune had questioned him during a bout of unreasonably intense push-ups.

"Stamina is incredibly underrated," Naruto had provided an actually useful answer. Regrettably, it had been from Jaune's back. "You'd be amazed how many fights you can steal victory from a superior opponent if you can outlast them while evading, deflecting, or blocking their attacks. If you're on even footing it's even better; the initiative of the fight is completely on them. They have to recklessly attack into your defenses because they will lose the battle of safe attrition."

"Why are you doing this to me?!" Jaune had shouted in frustration after Naruto threatened to carry him back home if he didn't finish his exercise.

"When rain falls, the ground hardens." Had been Naruto's cryptic response. "Stop blaming me for your shortcomings. If you think saving lives is going to be an easier task than this you should head home. Get used to working hard."

If there was one lesson Naruto's words and actions had beat into Jaune it was that last bit. Hard work was a religion and Naruto Uzumaki was its missionary, maybe even its saint. It didn't matter what Naruto had him doing, Jaune was expected to put his all into it. Calling it training felt like a misnomer. Jaune felt that he was being exposed to some new way of life.

Plenty of people had told him to work hard growing up. Naruto didn't just tell him, Naruto showed him. Every workout he made Jaune do he'd dress it up fancier and then do it himself. Even when Naruto combined an almost inhumanly intense workout with constant use of his sand magic the man never did anything more than break a light sweat. To Jaune, it felt like a silent way of communicating with him. _I can do this because I worked hard. You need to work hard too._

That thought had lost its novelty when he made it back to the point where every muscle in his body felt like it had been run through a meat grinder. Weird as it may have sounded, it was still easier dealing with his entire body being in pain this time around. Was his body acclimatizing to suffering?

"And you're good." Naruto declared after Jaune had spent the last fifteen minutes letting the back of his head get beat by branches. His core muscles were beyond spent by that point. All he could do was take the hits and wait for it to be over.

That didn't mean he liked it. "This's… so… stupid." Jaune squeezed the words in between gasped breaths. The sun had set an hour ago and Jaune had lost track of how long he'd been training. Trying to math out how long he might have left just seemed like a masochistic form of self-torture that he was perfectly fine living without.

"Think of it as practice," Naruto patted the sand platform next to him, indicating they were finally done for the day. Jaune didn't so much sit next to him as fall gracelessly on the ground beside him. "It didn't help the staying power of your muscles, but it worked out your mental endurance."

"I'm pretty sure beating someone's head with sticks is not how professors train mental endurance." Jaune groaned.

"Maybe fewer kids would be dead if they did," Naruto shrugged. "Your body ran out of juice. That sucks. Doesn't mean whatever your fighting is going to stop and go 'It looks like that twiggy blond kid is out of energy. We should give him some time to recuperate.' while you stand there wheezing. Even if your squad can cover for you after you've tapped out, you're still putting a huge burden on them. If it ever comes to that, it's better to know how to push yourself when you think you're spent."

Jaune didn't know if he agreed with Naruto on running people's heads into branches as a method of teaching. Despite that uncertainty, he couldn't find a means by which to argue either. The only thing he could do was prepare for tomorrow. "If you want me to be able to move tomorrow you're going to have to heal me again."

"Eh? Today was our last day. We're only a couple of hours away from Muspel." Naruto looked at him like he was deranged. "After tomorrow morning I won't be seeing you until you get into Beacon. You're on your own from here on out."

Naruto's words jolted him like a shock of static electricity. They were surprising, if not overly painful. It would be a transparent lie to claim he was bereft to know that this hellish training program would be over.

And yet, despite his relief, a part of him rebelled against such a lax way of thinking. It was a part of Jaune that had not been there before he met Naruto. That small piece fought tooth and nail against such unrepentant tepidness. He was obviously capable of the work he'd put forth — he wasn't dead — so why was he already planning on taking it easy?

" _He can try and train you as strictly as he wants when you're under his watch, but he can't always have his eyes on you. For all he knew you didn't have the motivation to keep up the training you'd need."_ Naruto had said to him. He'd been trying to explain to Jaune why his father didn't want to train him to be a huntsman at the time. At the time, Jaune had been dismissive of the notion; the idea that he would lose motivation for his lifelong dream was a stupid thing to suggest.

He'd had one-hundred percent conviction that he would stop at nothing to become a huntsman. At that moment in time, Jaune felt like the ground had given way beneath him. There was nothing in the world quite like watching the foundation of who you believe yourself to be proven completely and irrevocably false.

Jaune didn't have what was necessary to become a huntsman.

His father was right in not training him.

Would he have given up when things became too difficult? Would he have only realized his uselessness when someone's life hanged in the balance? Was being a huntsman just some sort of joke to him?

The small part of his soul that had rebelled against his laxness had started to consume him. His laziness, his laxness, his disrespect of what it meant to be a huntsman were devoured by the part of himself that had been forged in the past two days of honest, hard work. If he'd been conscious of it happening Jaune would no doubt have been impressed; something so small taking over something so large? Ideas and principles conceived in the past two days waged against what he'd believed his whole life? As it turned out, Jaune would learn a second lesson that day.

Weak convictions have no hope against beliefs that are strong, regardless of number.

Jaune didn't have what was necessary to become a huntsman. So he'd fashion whatever the hell he needed himself.

His father had been right in not training him. He'd have to make himself a man worth training.

Things _would_ be difficult. Being a huntsman _wasn't_ a joke. Lives _would_ hang in the balance. But all of those things were just aspects of his life he'd decided to accept when he walked out the door of his home in Ansel. Now he'd have to deal with them.

"Could you heal me?" Jaune asked Naruto.

The elder blond gave him a quizzical look. "I just told you I'm not going to train you tomorrow. There's no need. Man up and deal with your pain."

"Please, heal me," Jaune asked once more. "Just because you're not there to train me doesn't mean I'm not going to train."

Naruto's questioning expression hadn't abated, yet there was something twinkling in his eyes that hadn't been there before. "You can't keep training like this by yourself. You feel broken by the end of each day because you are broken. If it wasn't for me healing you last night you wouldn't have been able to walk today."

"Fine," Jaune said. "Then I'll train as hard as I can before I break. Any chance you can show me how you do that healing magic?"

A smile cracked across Naruto's face. "Afraid not. Trade secret. I've heard from some of the locals that huntsman can use their aura to heal their injuries. Maybe you should try and get some of your own."

"Okay." Jaune agreed. A few days ago he would have stressed out over how he'd get this aura stuff, or even if he could get it at all. Jaune decided that was just the kind of stuff he'd have to figure out himself. It wasn't like he'd changed his nature; he still wanted to ask for help because he had no idea how the frick he was supposed to do things. He was still nervous, scared, afraid, and altogether worried that he wouldn't be enough to achieve his dream of being a huntsman.

But how the hell was he going to figure out if he was unless he gave it his best damn try?

The fear of failure was there like it always had been. The only difference was that this time around it was accompanied by a fear of staying the same. If he gave it his best there was a chance he failed. If he didn't try at all he would definitely be the same Jaune everyone knew him to be. One route gave him a chance whereas the other one didn't. The difference between the two paths was the effort they required to walk. Was he willing to give up on the chance he could help people because it would let him lounge around without having to work hard?

When he put it like that, why was he worried in the first place?

Naruto's glowing green hands magically mended his bruised body and broken muscles. As Naruto fixed his body Jaune fixed his resolved. Moving forward he'd have to learn to control his impulses to retreat, to give up. He'd have to force himself to become the huntsman he wanted to be.

He'd show Naruto. He'd show everyone.

* * *

It turned out that a night of impassioned resolve quickly gave way to normality. Jaune had arrived in Muspel two days ahead of schedule thanks to Naruto's expedient mode of transportation. The bullhead from Muspel to one of the Beacon drop off points only left once a week. After all, Muspel and Ansel were close to the same size, though Muspel was slightly larger. That meant he had two entire days to train himself.

The room he'd gotten for himself was a cheap motel room typically used for things he'd rather not think about. Jaune had planned his trip out to arrive the morning the day the bullhead would depart, which meant that paying for lodging wasn't something he'd accounted for. The necessity of spending as little money as possible led to some less than desirable accommodations. What was even worse was the fact that he couldn't leave the room that he'd rented for fear of running into someone. His father had traveled to Muspel before and probably had acquaintances within its walls. The fewer people that saw him the better.

That meant any and all exercises had to be done within the confines of a room that was about the size of their kitchen back home. When you combined the lack of space with his inability to conjure magical sand bars, Jaune didn't have many methods by which he could exercise. As such his workouts consisted of push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and running in place. Jaune learned if there was something worse than Naruto's hellish training menu.

Trying to replicate that menu alone.

It hadn't taken a genius to figure out that Naruto was in much better physical condition than he was. There was something about working out side by side with someone that Jaune hadn't come to appreciate until he'd tried to force himself to go it alone. There probably wasn't anyone else in this motel spending time doing squats until their legs felt like they were going to fall off. There wasn't anyone to threaten to drag him back to Ansel if he didn't keep working. If he flipped on the TV and watched cartoons for the rest of the day it wasn't like anybody would know.

And that was the problem. He'd been so certain that he was going to transform himself into a huntsman through nothing but sweat and elbow grease. The previous night he'd been so self-assured that he'd be able to change that it felt like he was invincible. Now? Now that he was left to the quiet solace of a confined room where nobody would be able to judge him? Summoning that willpower that he'd had was a lot harder than it'd been previously.

It was like a kick in the balls to remember he was the same Jaune he'd always been. His determination to change had politely stood aside for his normal self to take center stage again. _Easy come easy go._ Jaune thought to himself as he squatted once more.

It wasn't all rain on his parade. He may have lacked the desire to workout, but he didn't lack the willpower. Not wanting to exercise wouldn't change the results of hard work. He wouldn't be able to push himself as far as he had with Naruto. Instead of working for hours on end until he died, Jaune did an hour on followed by an hour off. Even with his much more tame method of training, he found himself unable to push off the ground within the third hour. Jaune hadn't realized how carefully Naruto had targeted different parts of his body to make sure he could train for as long as they had.

"This… sucks…" Jaune talked to himself as he worked out. In addition to forcing air out of his lungs so he'd actually breathe it also blocked out the sounds of some pretty intense wrestling going on in the other room. Wrestling. That was the story Jaune was sticking with.

"Oooooh yeah." A woman's voice penetrated the walls that were unfortunately not soundproofed. Jaune assured himself that the feminine voice in question had just gotten a pin and that was her way of celebrating. Because they were just wrestling. Wrestling.

When her partner decided to ask her if she was enjoying their bout of **wrestling** , Jaune made the impromptu decision it was time to go and get dinner. He'd been at it for two hours and was due for a break. Hopefully, by the time he got back, his neighbors would have finished going at it themselves.

Stepping out into the open was refreshing. He'd never had much of a preference between exercising indoors and outdoors before. That may have been due to not ever exercising as a huntsman would. Jaune could just imagine a school full of elite warriors wearing elite armor with elite weapons. In his imagination, everyone was six feet tall and made of muscle — even the women. It was nerve-wracking just to think about how far ahead they probably were in all aspects.

Trying to figure out how to use Crocea Mors seemed like a waste of time on his own. It wasn't that he'd sit and twiddle his thumbs if he had nothing else to do, rather it seemed much more efficient to use his time to try and catch his physical conditioning up to those in Beacon. The semester started in a week, which meant he wasn't going to be able to tune up his capabilities too much by then. If he trained really _really_ hard he might be able to get close to being able to keep up with the other students within the first few weeks.

Maybe that was wishful thinking. All of the other students in Beacon probably went to one of the preparatory schools like Signal. If the professors at those schools were anything like Naruto then he was screwed. Students who dealt with his tyranny for three years were probably six foot five and biceps the size of watermelons. The women too.

Jaune's meal was a fast food burger and some fries to complete the classic combo. It was the cheapest thing he could get to try and make the limited money he had last! Unlike the motel, something that was completely necessary to save money on, that one was probably a rationalization. As his lips pursed around the burger — teeth carving out a chunk of the fatty and delicious flesh — he couldn't find any good reason to second-guess his decision.

As much as he wanted to spend more time outside, Jaune knew he shouldn't. Risking everything for some time in the sun just wasn't worth it. Besides, the simple act of walking to get the burger was a trial itself. The squats he'd done had stressed his thighs to the point that his steps had become stilted and unnatural. Considering he'd only worked out two hours compared to the seven Naruto had made him do both days, Jaune felt like stopping at this point would be an act of giving up.

By the time he made it back to his motel room, he'd thrown in the towel. He hadn't realized how hard the squats had hit his leg. He'd spent thirty minutes hiding in an alley, resting his legs and eating his burger and fries. His decision to not get a drink had begun to feel like a poor one when he couldn't drink the filtered water motel offered as a courtesy because he couldn't make it back. When he weighed his dry throat against the thought of moving again… a nanosecond was enough to decide that he was going thirsty.

When he finally did make it back to his room the only thing he could do was crawl into the bed he prayed was clean. As he settled into the covers he glanced at the red lights of the alarm clock and decided against it. Since he was going to be doing nothing but training tomorrow it didn't really matter when he woke up.

Instead of the alarm, Jaune's focused was occupied with the rather loud protests his legs were sending up the ladder to his brain. His attempts to massage his aching legs only served to remind him that his arms were also incredibly unhappy with him. Moving them around it felt like they weren't part of his body. How the hell had he gone seven hours with Naruto?!

There was no one and nothing to give him answers as he quickly drifted off to sleep. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was quitting too early. The fact that he couldn't bring himself to move was the only thing he could offer as mitigating evidence to one's perception of his potential laziness. The battle between the part of his mind that thought he was being lazy and the part that argued he could do no more continued until he fell into the realm of blissful unconsciousness.

* * *

It was the morning of the day the bullhead was set to depart. It was a confusing thing for Jaune to realize as he woke up in the morning. When he went to bed there was still an entire day between him and the bullhead ride out of Muspel. How was it possible that day had somehow vanished? The simple answer is usually the right one. And, well…

He'd slept through the entire day.

He had no idea how, why, by what means or anything else concerning the whole state of affairs. As Jaune lugged his backpack and sprinted to the bullhead boarding station he couldn't help but curse the thoughts of his tired brain. Why didn't he just set an alarm?!

That was how Jaune Arc set out on his adventure to become a huntsman. With his backpack thrown carelessly over his weapon, both bouncing with each and every step due to how poorly secured they were. It was messy and sloppy, maybe a bit childish, and the past few days had proven him more than a little naive. But Jaune Arc was happy. For all its faults, this journey was his. It would be the adventure that would define his life.

Even if he'd grow to regret it.


	4. New Chapters

**_Greetings and salutations! Welcome to the completely, totally, one-hundred percent on-time chapter of Fox and the Cub! ... I made it longer to apologize._**

 ** _For those who are curious, the preparations for the move are going smoothly enough. Just threw out a lot of my junk as I slim down my possessions for the cross-country treck. For those who do not follow my pa+reon, OFNT is being moved to next Sunday to give me time to catch up and prepare for my move. _**

**_This is a fun little chapter that goes to show you that timing and circumstance make up a lot of how we meet new people. Have two people meet one way and they might end up mortal enemies, but with a bit of luck and a different circumstance? Possibly something completely different. I dedicate the first half of this chapter to engine._**

 ** _The financer of this project has storyboarded it with me and we are all set to move forward. Pairings are slotted and we've got the gist of things figured out. Reading the first few chapters of this story doesn't make me want to delete my fanfiction account like reading OFNT. Hopefully, the polishing of my writing skill will shine through in this fic and make it seem a little less slipshod._**

 ** _With that being said, let's get to it!_**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 **New Chapters**

"Bleurgh…" Jaune couldn't stop himself from retching. He was a man that firmly believed that if humankind was destined to fly they would have been born with wings. If you looked at things with that frame of mind, it was everyone else who was weird for being okay with giant metal contraptions ferrying them through the sky. His flying sickness was perfectly normal!

That was the explanation Jaune was going to go with if anyone asked him about it. Right now he was spending most of his effort to contain his body's urge to empty the contents of his stomach onto the deck. The last thing he wanted to be known for was vomiting on the flight over to Beacon. That was exactly the kind of reputation he didn't need, thank you very much!

The layover between flights had been as short as Jaune planned it to be. The extra lien he'd been forced to spend in Muspel really set him back, so it was nothing short of a blessing when things went his way. It wasn't the easiest gift from god to appreciate at the moment, as the minuscule delay between the two flights meant that he'd moved from one flying contraption to the next with little time to let his stomach settle. He'd wanted to train on his way to Beacon, but it seemed that was out of the cards.

Jaune took the time on the previous flight to research what little the public was allowed to know about aura. That's what he assumed, at least. All he could find on the four-hour flight was that aura was a manifestation of the soul that provided its owner a barrier from damage, above average regenerative abilities, strength, and possibly a semblance.

That was an impressive list of perks that only furthered Jaune's desire to get some of the stuff for himself. What he hadn't been able to find was a way to get his own aura. Not a single source mentioned a method by which you could obtain it, except one. After hours of searching, he read on a message board that people in extreme circumstances could unlock their aura through force of will. It was rare — a body's final grasp at life when the soul was strong enough to will it to do so.

Throwing himself into certain death for the chance to get lucky and get some aura failed to enthuse the young man. Jaune didn't even know if the board was telling the truth or not. If he assumed it was, there existed a silver lining to his current cloud, not that it would be much of one. If getting it in combat was rare, that meant there was most likely a simpler — and much to Jaune's appreciation — safer way. He was leaning towards the idea that huntsmen gave each other aura. After that, maybe the body learned how to create the substance itself?

There were a hundred other things it could be too. Though it was an important quandary, it probably wasn't worth spending too much time thinking about it. The best idea he had was to ask somebody about it. He was afraid — afraid that they might view him as less of a huntsman for not having his aura. There was also the small detail that he clearly wasn't much of a huntsman besides that, but hey, he was working on it!

He did what he could to gather the contents of his stomach and confine them to where they belonged. The flight had given them ideas of an upward escape and did not lend itself well to Jaune's desire to talk to someone. He knew he couldn't delay his quest for aura any longer. Now that he was finally on a giant aircraft filled with huntsmen and huntresses there were no more excuses. _Come on! Just pick someone, you big baby!_ Jaune tried to psych himself up.

As he wandered looking for someone, Jaune was reminded the airship itself was way too fancy for the likes of him. The simple act of looking for someone to talk to was enough to make his head spin — airsickness aside. The whole thing was unbelievably vast. He'd guessed somewhere around a hundred students were on this airship alone. He'd been to towns that could host fewer people, less comfortably too. If this was the kind of ride huntsmen got regularly, there was nothing else to say except that they were loaded. The metal railing polished to a sparkling sheen, the sleek futuristic aesthetics, everything he looked at broadcasted a sense of fiscal superiority over a town like his.

Speaking of fiscal superiority, Jaune found someone who fit the bill. A girl with the most beautiful white hair in a dress to match. That single dress probably cost more than his entire wardrobe! If someone was to describe her as something other than breathtaking upon first seeing her, he would have referred that person to their optometrist. Devastatingly good looks aside, she also had the air of somebody who knew what she was doing. She walked like someone who had places to be and things to do once she got there. It gave her an air of competence and knowledge, making her an ideal candidate for his questioning.

Again, that was his story and he was sticking to it.

Making his way to her involved a bit of maneuvering as he tried to avoid bumping into any people on his way while also closing the distance between the two of them. She had a fast gait, but her short stature meant those fast-moving legs were still carrying her at a pace Jaune could keep up with. Social skills weren't exactly Jaune's forte, and phrasing it like that was being generous to a fault. He wasn't sure if he should tap her on the shoulder, call out to her, or try and get her attention with a wave or some such.

His body and brain collaborated towards a solution to the problem. The solution reached was the belief that said sociality needed to be compensated for. Thus, all three were done simultaneously; waving with his left hand, tapping her on the shoulder with his right, and speaking with his mouth. He felt the need to praise himself for the words successfully coming from his mouth, if only because that was the one thing that actually went right.

"Hi," Jaune's opener was predictably underwhelming. The combination of the wave in her peripheral, the touch on her shoulder, and the greeting was enough to get the attention of the white-haired girl. Apparently, she was not one to do things slowly, spinning on her feet — an act made all the more impressive by the length of the heels she was wearing.

"Can I help you?" Jaune learned something interesting when she said those words. He'd heard that exact greeting a hundred times over from the local grocer back in Ansel. Whenever Thad welcomed Jaune's family into his store he'd give them a beaming smile and a warm welcome with those words. He'd genuinely wanted to know if there was anything he could do to help.

When this girl said it the words felt like an accusation. It felt like she was saying _"How can I help you get out of my face faster?"_. It wasn't the comforting greeting he was used to at all! How could the same words sound that different?!

Jaune Arc was not, nor ever had been an iron rock of confidence. His dad had always told him that all a man needed was confidence to accomplish his goals, but it never helped. Where the heck did one get confidence? Was there a confidence factory that produced bulk goods? Did that factory sell to a retailer he could then purchase said confidence from? No? Then how was he supposed to get it?!

The result was Jaune losing any semblance of the script he'd readied for the conversation. That meant he regressed to his normal nature — apologetic and humble. "I'm really sorry for bothering you. I just had a question I needed to ask a huntress about a-and you looked like somebody who might know the answer."

What he ended up saying in a panic turned out to be more effective than sticking to his plan ever would've been. There were few couplings as natural as an egoist and one who would stroke it. Jaune might have burned his luck for the next five years stumbling into the right path like he did. That was a problem he'd have to deal with in the future. For now, Jaune reaped his accidental rewards.

"A question for a huntress…?" The girl squared her body to his own as she focused her attention on him. "Well, I doubt you could find someone better suited for your query. Go, ask."

Jaune blinked like a deer caught in the headlights. He'd been in a high-pressure situation and blurted out the words that came to mind. He wasn't going off a script, he didn't have a follow-up prepared! _If it worked once…_ "I'm going to be studying at Beacon Academy and-"

"This _is_ the transport to Beacon Academy." The girl reminded him pointedly. Jaune realized his luck being spent has transitioned from probable to definite. That meant he was going to need to stop relying on getting lucky and start being smart.

He wasn't good at smart.

"I know that… I… I brought it up because…" Jaune stumbled over his words, his brain doing its best impression of a scroll failing at dealing with a stack overflow.

"I can appreciate why you'd wish to ask me a question pertaining to huntsmanship, however, I am very busy with-"

Jaune would never know what she was supposedly busy with. The few days he trained under Naruto hadn't made him strong. It hadn't been the story of the hapless young hero meeting the grizzled veteran and being molded into the man who would save the world. Neither had it been the story of the young pupil studying under the wizened mentor to become a great sage of unparalleled wisdom. Jaune wasn't smarter or stronger than when he started his journey. There was only one thing about him that was any different.

He refused to give up.

"I'm sorry," Jaune bowed his head in honest shame and apology. "I'm embarrassed by the truth and was hesitant to say it. My father never believed I would become a huntsman. I didn't know about aura for a large portion of my life. The man that prepared me to be a huntsman said I should seek someone out on my way to Beacon that could help teach me how to obtain aura of my own. All I want to know is how to get aura. If you can tell me that I'd be grateful."

Jaune didn't lift his head, keeping it bowed as he waited for a response. He didn't keep his head low out of respect, but fear. He was afraid how she would react to hearing he didn't have an aura. Would she think he wasn't a real huntsman? If she didn't, she was right. He was a normal guy with a collapsible shield and a sword. That didn't mean that was all he could be. All Jaune needed was a chance.

"You were admitted to Beacon Academy without having your aura unlocked?" She questioned him dubiously. There was a hint of something in her voice Jaune couldn't recognize.

"Yes." He had to forcibly level the pitch of his voice. Every fiber of his body was ready for the girl to tear into him.

"That's rather impressive. The accolades one would need to accrue to enter Beacon auraless… you must have been the top of your class. Where did you study?"

 _Must… not… blink…_ Jaune forcibly nixed the impulse of his eyes to give their best interpretation of a camera shutter. He, Jaune Arc, top of his class? Ha! He'd look this impossibly gorgeous girl in the eyes like a normal person and keep talking like he knew what he was talking about. Both of which already sounded like impossible tasks alone. Lucky him.

"I didn't go to a training school," Jaune admitted. He'd wanted to go to Signal Academy to prepare for Beacon. It didn't pan out. "All of my training was done on the road with my mentor." Jaune didn't feel great about perpetuating her misunderstanding even if he wasn't lying. Then again, the alternative was her knowing he'd trained less than a week in his life. If those were his options he would take door number two, please!

"To be brought into the folds of huntsmanship through worldly travels alone... Does that mean you're accustomed to fighting grimm absent of the power of aura?"

These not-lies had been serving him well so far and Jaune felt no need to stop now. "Yes, although I doubt I've fought as many as you. Fighting them without aura is-"

"Incredible," She finishes for him. He was going to use the word terrifying or maybe even insane. "I'm delighted to see Beacon has selected some real talent to participate in my year. The state of many of the huntsmen and huntresses on this vessel was beginning to make me worry. I could swear I even saw a child here."

"Right…" Jaune went with the flow and agreed with her, earning him further recognition from the girl. Every time there had been a fork in this conversation where things could either go fantastically or terribly they had taken a turn down Positive Road.

 _I swear I've never been this lucky in my life._ Jaune sought asylum from karma as it must have been preparing to kick him in the balls. What the crap was going on? Was he being paid up front for his backlog of bad luck? Was there a god watching over him? Did he come in contact with Remnant's font of eternal luck without realizing it?

"I wasn't particularly lying when I said I was busy. There is a potential teammate I intend to corner- talk to on the way to Beacon. You wished to know how to obtain aura?"

Jaune nodded his head, taking the opportunity for silent communication when it was presented to avoid tempting fate any further. It was a sufficient cue for the girl to launch into her explanation. "Aura is known as the manifestation of one's soul. As you know, it allows us to shield ourselves from damage, provides greatly increased stamina, accelerates healing if you are ever injured, and more."

 _I knew exactly one of those things before looking it up today._ Jaune stayed silent.

"Because aura is your soul, everyone has the potential to use it inside of them. We obtain aura's energy through a process known as unlocking. In most cases, a parent or teacher will unlock the aura of their child or student once their course has been set towards becoming a huntsman or huntress. There's the obvious reasons such as it being both safer and more efficient to train with aura than without. What's even more important for some is the ability to unlock your semblance."

She didn't stop to explain what a semblance was. Jaune thanked the stars for the research he'd done that morning. "To answer your question, there are two ways to unlock your aura. As I mentioned previously, somebody can unlock it for you if they themself have unlocked their aura. This is far and away the most standard way for a huntsman to unlock their aura."

"But there's another way to do it?" Jaune asked hopefully. He didn't have anybody to unlock his aura. He could have asked a teacher to do it for him, but to do so would make the school transcripts he'd submitted to them suspect.

"In rare cases, there have been people who unlocked their aura in life or death situations. Researchers have hypothesized it to be a soul's last-ditch effort to save the body. They suspect it only happens when someone's will is so resolute in its refusal of death that it forces the aura to activate, though they haven't yet figured out how."

 _So that message board was right._ Jaune remembered what had been posted — the only information he'd been able to find about how to get aura. _I knew I should have trusted that anonymous person on the internet!_

With one realization came another. He couldn't ask the teachers to unlock his aura because of his fake transcripts. Naruto wasn't exactly his mentor, but he couldn't ask him either. His pseudo-mentor had said he didn't know how to do that. He couldn't ask a teacher, he couldn't ask his mentor, he definitely couldn't ask his father, which left only two doors available; face death and hope his soul wanted to live, or quit. Which meant there was only one real option.

He obviously had to quit.

He'd been inches away from having his throat become the centerpiece to two jagged rows of serrated beowolf teeth! He knew huntsmen risked their lives, he wasn't that much of an idiot. The other side of that coin was how could he expect to unlock his aura by doing something he'd already done! Moving past the reality that his death was nearly certain if he fought the grimm as he presently was, there was no way he could risk his life on something that made going to the casino and betting it all on double zero! It's possible the casino would give him better odds!

" _Being a huntsman is about doing. You don't get that."_ His father's words echoed in his mind.

 _Yeah, okay Dad, sure, but I'm pretty sure this qualifies as an exception!_ Jaune defended himself from the ever-looming specter of his own uncertainty. A huntsman wouldn't rush into death unless it was to save those he'd pledged to protect. This wasn't anything like that!

 _Does it?_ Part of his mind coaxed him. _You've pledged to protect those in need by promising to become a huntsman. If you turn back now there's a strong chance you'll live a happy and healthy life accompanied by the total certainty you'll never protect a soul from the grimm. You'll never be a hero. You'll never accomplish your dream._

That was the choice he had. Go out and risk his life on something that probably had a less than two percent chance of panning out so he could fulfill his dream or go home and forget this all happened. If there was a third option he didn't see it. If Naruto was able to unlock his aura Jaune was sure he would have. _Stupid forged transcripts._

He should choose to turn back now, he knew that. If he was killed that would be it, he'd be dead. There was no retry screen to take him back to the beginning of the level so he could have another go. He could go back to Ansel, make a life, find a wife, and live out his days in peace. It's what he should do. It's what any sane person would have done.

 _I don't want to give up. Not again. Not now that I realize I've been giving up all this time._ Jaune had said he'd show everyone what he could do as a huntsman. Was he going to add breaking that promise to the list of regrets he had? _Not again._ He repeated. Plus, some people believed unlocking your own aura to be a matter of will. If he refused to give up it was possible his body was more likely to try and save him.

"And that is a full explanation on the nuance of what we know to be aura, at least at this moment." The girl finished what felt like a long-winded explanation. Considering Jaune's attention level had been somewhere between none and nonexistent that was merely a speculative assumption as he actually had no idea.

"Thanks, that was… helpful?" Jaune guessed. The first part had been. That was the part that gave him a plan, albeit a poor one. "Hopefully I'll unlock my own aura when they start sending grimm at us."

"You can't be serious. You intend to go against the forces of grimm auraless?" She asked him incredulously.

Jaune shrugged. "Not like I haven't done it before." Which was true… technically. He only hoped that-

"Why don't you ask one of the teachers at Beacon to do it for you? I'm sure they accepted you knowing they would need to unlock your aura for you once you arrived."

"Religious reasons," Jaune answered automatically, surprising the girl and himself at the same time. That one was an outright lie, breaking form from all his previous answers. He doubted not wanting to get expelled was a good basis for the foundation of a religion. If it were, it was apparent he'd be a loyal believer.

"It's hard to imagine a religion that forbids you from unlocking your aura could survive in times like these," The girl said, clearly critical of his completely bogus faith.

"They don't," Jaune quickly backpedaled. When she delivered him a quizzical arched eyebrow he realized he had no idea where he was going with this. His mind raced for something to say. "They only forbid us from having our auras unlocked by superiors… because… our god is the only superior who can bestow the gift of aura upon us. That's why I'm surprised to hear that people can unlock others aura at all."

 _What the hell am I saying?!_ Jaune wanted to scream. _That makes no sense!_

"That's… an interesting faith you have." The girl responded uncertainly. Considering he'd made it up on the spot that didn't surprise him. "Does that mean a peer unlocking your aura is considered acceptable?"

"That!" Jaune pounced on the offered justification as immediately as it was presented. "I mean that is how it normally goes. I was unlucky that nobody my own age wanted to become a huntsman. Normally that wouldn't be the case."

"I suppose that makes some level of sense. If enough children aspire to be huntsmen it's likely one will be faced with a problem in which your 'god' bestows his 'blessing' upon. At that point that one person is able to share it with the rest. I assume that's the gist of it?"

"I couldn't have given a more perfect explanation myself," Jaune admitted. He really couldn't have. Now to try and dig himself out of the hole he'd made before she started thinking he was a nutbag. "Between you and me, I'm not like I'm a devout believer or anything. It's a community thing… the nail that sticks out and all."

The girl gave the smallest of smiles. "You needn't worry. I have no intention of telling anyone."

"Thanks, not only for that but for everything." Jaune expressed his gratitude before turning to leave. Maybe he could find another student and ask them to unlock his aura. He wouldn't want word to get back to this one and have an inquisition started into his made up religion.

The girl caught his wrist in her hand. His brain felt the need to remind him how delicate and tiny it was, her fingers not even long enough to encircle his wrists. "Stop." She ordered him, her cheeks slightly tinged with red.

Jaune immediately complied. "Stopping."

And then he waited. He didn't move, the girl didn't move. He didn't speak, the girl didn't speak. The hormonal part of his teenage brain felt the need to point out that her hand was warm on his skin. He wanted to lobotomize that part of his brain before its thoughts developed any further and forced him to make a fool out of himself more than he already had. _I couldn't think of anything better than religion? Come on!_

"I want you to know that this means nothing," The girl paused, seeming adamant on making that point clear. "I would feel irrationally guilty knowing I could have done something to help prevent the death of a fellow classmate. This is for my sake, not yours."

"I'm going to be honest here — I have no idea what you're talking about." Jaune unabashedly admitted to how out of the loop he was with whatever this conversation was now about.

"Just- stop talking, okay?" The girl's tone made it ambiguous whether that was an order or a request. Either way, Jaune complied. The girl took a few deep breaths, steadying herself as she calmed down. Once she'd done so she lifted the hand that had been holding his wrist and rested it on his shoulder.

"For it is in nobility that we achieve ascendancy. Through our ascendancy, we are given an obligation to lead all who are lost. Infinite in responsibility and bound by duty, I guide your soul to its fullest potential, and by my will, share mine own authority with you."

Jaune was reminded of a time he'd gone and put his favorite canned soda in the freezer as a child. He'd wanted to cool it faster so he could drink it, but then he'd went and forgotten about it for a few hours. By the time he'd gotten to the drink and popped the tab to open he found himself greeted with a surprise. The frozen liquid had expanded, causing the contents to seek escape through the only avenue Jaune had given.

He felt that with his soul. Whatever she'd done had made his being force itself out of his body. He felt his own energy enveloping his entire body — strengthening it, invigorating it. Jaune knew in an instant that this was the power he would use to become a true huntsman.

 _Doesn't do everything._ Jaune grimaced as the aircraft they were on encountered a bump of turbulence. His stomach deciding to once more make him aware that he was in no way a fan of flying. He'd held out some hope that the miracle power would cure his airsickness. _No such luck._

Coming off the high of the experience Juane noticed the girl looked unsteady on her feet. For a moment it looked like she was going to faint. When Jaune went to brace her during a particularly severe sway she lightly swatted his hand away.

"I'm fine… I… didn't know that would take so much out of me. I can scarcely believe how greatly your aura pool exceeds my own."

 _I have a lot of aura?_ Jaune did feel like he was brimming with energy. He didn't have any measure of comparison to know if he had more or less aura than then anyone else, but somehow she'd been able to tell. Having more aura meant that he would be able to train more… he had mixed feelings about that.

"Don't get full of yourself," The girl looked a little more stable now. "Having a large amount of aura is substantially less important than knowing how to properly use it," Jaune's entire body drooped at her words as it registered that he had no idea how to use his newfound aura. His reaction was so obvious the girl couldn't even feign ignorance. "Control can be developed through constant diligence. As long as you commit yourself to a structured training program that is."

Jaune perked back up like a big puppy. He nodded frantically in the hope that the fervor of the action would convey his seriousness. "You don't need to worry about that. Training harder was the only reason I wanted aura in the first place." He hadn't even known about the superpowers it gave, not that he was going to admit that.

"A commendable attitude. Now I don't mean to be rude, but-"

"You're busy," Jaune finished with a wide grin. "I won't hold you up any longer. Actually, give me a few more seconds," He commandeered her use of the half-question half-command. Taking his dad's advice to heart he grabbed her hand in his own. He'd thought about kissing it like a knight would a princess, but he didn't have _that_ much confidence. He settled for a respectful handshake. "Let me say thank you, thank you so much. If you ever need a spare set of hands at Beacon, I owe you one."

A red tinge tinted her cheeks. "I'll keep that in mind."

As the girl walked away and left him standing alone he couldn't shake the feeling that this was going to be a good year for him. At least that was his immediate assessment. It wasn't until the girl disappeared from his lingering vision that he realized something.

 _Crap! I never asked her for her name!_ Jaune cursed his stupidity. _I meet a cute girl, things don't go terribly for once, and I don't even ask her name?! Why am I so bad at this?!_

Jaune would soon learn the girl hadn't offered her name because she presumed he knew it. Perhaps it was fortunate she hadn't told him, perhaps not. Jaune wouldn't have recognized the Schnee name even if he was beaten over the head with it.

By the end of the day that would be tested and confirmed most exhaustively.

* * *

Glynda Goodwitch considered herself a busy woman. In her defense, if another person dealt with the level of work and the responsibility and stress that came with it would have probably searched for the nearest tree after learning how to tie a noose. The fact that she merely considered herself busy was a testament to her mental fortitude few could match. Why was Glynda Goodwitch so stressed?

She was a professor at Beacon Academy. It was an important job that she took pride in doing, though it wasn't by any means simple. Gathering teenagers, throwing them into a boarding school with lethal weaponry, and then having a skeleton crew of a staff to manage them all meant that every back had to shoulder more of the weight than they rightfully should. Unfortunately for her, her colleagues could frequently leave much to be desired from an administrative standpoint.

Peter Port was a good huntsman and a good man. If ever she was asked about him that was what she chose to say before imploring the heavens that the questioner didn't choose to ask for further details. Paperwork was not his strong suit, nor was teaching, nor was leading, nor were many other qualities that you would want in a sculptor of young minds present. He managed his own class, sort of, and could not be trusted to manage much beyond that.

Bartholomew Oobleck was a good huntsman and a good man. He had a great passion for teaching the students that entered Beacon. His was a neverending font of energy to ensure the huntsmen of the future did not repeat the mistake of the huntsmen of the past. Glynda was convinced the only reason his energy was neverending was that he had long since replaced his blood with coffee. Although he was a man who actually did his paperwork, his eccentricities rendered him suboptimal for more public-facing duties.

Ozpin was a good huntsman. As the mastermind behind the battle against the forces of the grimm, he was without peer. When it came to Beacon he was more like an absent father, or maybe an uncle. He'd say hello to the students once in a blue moon, offer them the present of a few words of wisdom, then vanish back into his office until his next sighting. She knew what he did was important. Most likely. Probably. Possibly? Regardless, she tried not to begrudge him for the little time he was able to spend assisting in the day-to-day.

What she did begrudge him for was the barebones nature of Beacons staff. Three professors, one headmaster, and minimal janitorial and custodial staff were the summation of their manpower. The headmaster declined almost all applicants for any position unless he knew them personally. In the case of professors that meant they were all huntsmen he had either trained or seen the training of.

Until today.

A meeting was being held by the professors of Beacon Academy with only one item on the docket. The introduction of Professor Uzumaki. Glynda had no idea what he was teaching, why Ozpin had accepted his application over the dozens she'd suggested to him, not even who the man was. For Ozpin to finally hire someone she half-expected this Uzumaki to have the Mandate of Heaven.

Those were the thoughts occupying Glynda Goodwitch's mind when the staffroom door opened, the three professors already inside and waiting. Those entering the door? One headmaster of Beacon and one presumed Professor Uzumaki.

He was a blond man who looked closer to the age of herself of Bartholomew than Peter. He stood safely below six feet tall, though she wasn't precisely sure how much. She had a few inches on him either way. His garb was foreign, a combination of orange and black patterned clothing with a symbol in bold black on the front of his shirt. The white and red cloak he wore looked ceremonial and had a powerful elegance the rest of his outfit did not. From that quick assessment, she found nothing obtrusively wrong with his appearance, with the exception of the fox draped around his shoulders. She found animal furs to be an incredibly tacky subsect of fashion.

"Thank you all for gathering today," Ozpin started off with his love of clichéd phrases. She couldn't have imagined a more stereotypical way of starting the conversation. She silently scolded herself for her infantile irateness before zoning back in on the headmaster. "For the first time in many years, we have a new member joining the ranks of the Beacon teaching staff."

"Finally!" Peter harrumphed, his mustache waggling like it was alive.

"I admit it has been awhile since we last hired a professor at Beacon-"

 _Nine years ago._ Glynda mentally commentated. _And it was me._

"And I can assure you that in that time I have taken every stride to rectify that situation with as much immediacy as possible." A vessel in Glynda's forehead bulged to the point it almost ruptured as Ozpin said that.

" _I don't think this candidate has enough practical experience."_

" _He was a good huntsman, but far too aggressive to teach our students."_

" _I felt that he interviewed poorly."_

" _He is certainly qualified… I'm just not very fond of him."_

" _There was something off about her. No, I can't describe it, Glynda. It's something you'll understand with age."_

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I look forward to working with you all," He bowed at a forty-five-degree angle as he introduced himself. After a few seconds, he righted his posture and spoke to Ozpin. "If there's nothing more I would appreciate it if you could show me to where I'll be staying. I have plenty of things to unpack."

"Now wait one minute there lad. You have introduced yourself, now you need to give us a moment to do the same."

Everything Naruto Uzumaki did in that instant describes embarrassment. The hand rubbing the back of his head, the narrowing of the eyes with an apologetic smile… and yet Glynda felt he wasn't embarrassed in the slightest. "Gomen, gomen. I was exhausted from traveling here on foot and got ahead of myself."

"Not a problem lad. I know all about the grueling fatigue of a long trek. Why one time-" Glynda intervened with a staccatoed cough. Peter's stories were the last thing she wanted to subject a new colleague who was tired from travel to. Peter approached the newcomer, thrusting his slightly fat hand forward. "The name's Peter, Peter Port."

Naruto accepted it with a diplomatic smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Professor Port."

"Respectful, I like that! Good as it is to be polite, I must insist that you call me Peter."

"Alright then, Peter it is." Naruto relented, a hint of unwillingness played across his face before it was quickly concealed.

"Jolly good!" Peter beamed from eye to eye.

Glynda quietly observed as Bartholomew traded introductions as well. When he asked Naruto to address him by either Bartholomew or Bart she saw the same expression he'd shown with Peter. _Interesting._

When it came time for her to introduce herself she extended her hand perpendicular to the floor. She was not some dainty thing to offer her hand to be caressed. Not unless some formal luncheon demanded it. Naruto grabbed her hand and shook it twice, same as he had the other two.

"Professor Goodwitch." Was all she said before scrutinizing his expression.

He smiled and she recognized it as one of relief. "It's a pleasure to meet you Professor Goodwitch."

"Is there some reason you're uncomfortable addressing us by our first names? Have we done something to offend you?" She asked him directly. People often told her she was observant. Since observation was the cornerstone of proper deduction there were few who equaled her at deriving information from a set of data. Naruto had reacted poorly to two of them and positively to one. Either he disliked first names or it was because she was a woman.

They'd have words if it was the latter.

She hadn't noticed the color of Naruto's eyes when he first walked into the room. They were a dull blue, deep and dark. Poets would say that the eyes are the windows to the soul. She'd only noticed how dull his eyes were before because something changed when she spoke. There was a muted sparkling in his eyes that had not been there before.

"It's nothing you've done, more of a cultural difference," He assured them. "Where I come from one's given name is reserved for family and close friends. It's considered disrespectful to address a stranger by something other than their family name."

"My sincerest apologies if I caused any offense, Professor Uzumaki!" Bartholomew quickly adopted Naruto's last name. "I consider myself a well-read man and I've never heard of such a custom. I can assure you we meant nothing by it."

"I wasn't going to bring it up in the first place. I'm the stranger here, I need to adapt-"

"Absolute nonsense! Different cultures are to be celebrated, not repressed!"

Naruto didn't know how the landmine he'd stepped on with Bartholomew. As the history professor tore into him with questions, Glynda could see Naruto quickly realizing the depth of Bartholomew's passion. It was odd… although not a historian by trade, she was well traveled in large part due to the administrative tasks she'd taken on for Beacon. _I thought his garb was Mistralian, yet I know they have no such custom._

Ozpin intervened, interrupting Bartholomew's impassioned lecture. "There will be time for us all to get to know Professor Uzumaki during his tenure as a professor. For now, let us give him time to rest and recover from his journey. We wouldn't want him to be exhausted for his first day tomorrow."

Glynda had marked the date the new semester started on her calendar before the last one had ended. Nobody was more aware of the student's pending arrival than Glynda Goodwitch. It wasn't at the forefront of her mind because she was looking forward to it, nor was it a matter of dread. It was a transfixed date in her mind at all times because of the sheer quantity of matters that need be sorted before it arrived, and every year she was given reason to suspect that a perilous number of the aforementioned matters were left unaddressed.

But she was a professional. The steep mountain face of duties she had to climb did not mean she'd ignore another if it was placed in front of her. "I'll escort Professor Uzumaki to his accommodations." She acquiesced with what she was sure was Ozpin's implied request. Years ago she'd prepared a bedroom precisely for the occasion of a new professor, possibly in some vain belief that if she prepared a space for them to live one would come. It hadn't been so.

"No need, Glynda. I'll show Mr. Uzumaki to his room myself." Ozpin said.

 _Surely I'll wake up any moment now. I only hope I haven't overslept._ Glynda had come to the realization that she must have been dreaming. Ozpin finally hiring a much-needed teacher should have been cause for alarm enough. Coupling that with him volunteering for actual school management? _Preparing for the new semester must have caught up with me if I'm having the professor dream again._

It was an infeasibly cruel dream that had taunted the overworked professor on more than one occasion with the hope that Ozpin had finally hired another hand to help manage the flagship full of students they got each year. This time in particular was made slightly more tragic because this creation of her mind was not unpleasant to look at.

"I looked forward to working with you," Her delusional creation said once more before allowing the headmaster to lead him into the hallway. Glynda was far too tired to react at that point and decided to double up on rest. Maybe if she slept in this dream of hers she'd wake up feeling more rested.

"Fantastic! A foreign professor with an unknown culture! I hadn't dared hope for such bounty!" Bartholomew gushed. "With the new semester coming I had almost reached the point of dressing an ursa up in a jacket and tie and naming it Profursa."

Peter gave a low and hearty chuckle. "It doesn't work out as well as you're imagining it to, believe me."

"Peter… you haven't actually-"

"Quite unbelievable that old Oz finally found a huntsman worthy to enter our illustrious ranks!" Peter executed a verbal backspring to avoid Bartholomew's question. "I'd started to think we'd remain a lonely trio until the end of time!"

"That's… depressingly believable." Bartholomew sighed.

"Indubitably! But we need not fear, for our trio has expanded into a glorious four-part quartet!"

Glynda didn't bother joining the conversation for the primary reason that she was convinced it wasn't happening. The two talked ad nauseum about the new Professor Uzumaki, leaving her entirely out of the conversation as she tried to nod off. Of course, she couldn't fall asleep in a dream, so she merely kept her eyes closed and tried to recuperate any energy she could for when she inevitably woke up. Dream-Peter and dream-Bartholomew were kind enough to let her do exactly that as they continued to speculate about what subject their new Professor would be responsible for teaching.

They eventually did run out of things to talk about. The two bid their farewells to Glynda, receiving an automatic response from her in spite of her efforts to sleep. That kind of conditioned polite professionalism didn't vanish simply because one was dreaming. When they exited the room she made no effort to reposition herself to somewhere more comfortable. Glynda was content soaking up every minute of relaxation until this blissful dream was over.

 _Another professor… if only._ She sighed wistfully, stretching her arms above her head and behind her back.

It would take another four hours before she began to suspect this might not have been a dream after all.

* * *

Naruto threw himself onto his bed as soon as Ozpin closed the door. The sleeping Kurama would have been able to make it off his shoulder before being pinned to the bed if he cared enough to move. Alas, he did not, allowing Naruto's neck to rest on his body and use him as a makeshift pillow.

The room was nice enough. Compared to some of the accommodations he'd lived in over the years he could say it was incredibly sparse, but that suited him fine. The life of luxury had long since lost its appeal, making this medium-small room feel novel. It reminded him of the apartment he'd has a kid all those years ago.

It was fully furnished with a couch, television, and coffee table in the living room. A small black electric stove accompanied a matching colored microwave positioned above it. A stainless steel sink, cheap granite slab counters, it was a room that they'd tried to make look fancy on the cheap. Seemed a bit out of place in a school that's appearance made it appear completely loaded. Contrary to how he should feel, the thought of living so meagerly had immense appeal to him.

 _Teaching, huh?_ Kurama asked. It wasn't the first time he'd questioned Naruto about his choice, and they both knew it wouldn't be the last.

 _Seems like a good way to pass a few years._ Naruto answered nonchalantly.

 _Do you hear me complaining? Kicking a bunch of brats into shape sounds more fun than sitting around and doing nothing._ Kurama stretched his legs, wiggling his body beneath Naruto's neck. _I don't mind the choice you made — I'm surprised you made it. Didn't think you'd ever be done watching over them._

Naruto grunted, otherwise declining to respond. Sasuke had long scoured the world for any traces of Kaguya during the course of his life. They had both grown old and prepared for the beginning of their next journey when his best friend couldn't be certain that he'd wiped out all traces of the progenitor of chakra. Much like Madara before him, Sasuke didn't trust the next generation to deal with the threat if it came. Boruto and Sarada had both grown into fantastic shinobi, yet they both knew their children had not surpassed them.

 _It was time to move on. Stop thinking about it._ Kurama broke his chain of thought.

 _I can't help it. If Kaguya shows up while I'm not there-_

 _Then they'll die. Kurama concluded succinctly. And it won't be your fault. If you disagree with that, you're an idiot. Which, I suppose, is accurate._ Naruto forced his neck back, squishing his partner beneath his weight. Kurama twisted his neck to look at Naruto's face for the sole purpose of delivering a withering glower. _What you can't disagree with is that the threat of Kaguya would come in the future. The threat of you staying was in the present._

Kurama was right, he couldn't disagree with that. Naruto heaved a mighty sigh as he let go of the tension he'd built throughout the day. The interview with Ozpin had gone to plan, meeting his co-workers to be had been low maintenance as well. The weight of forsaking his duty weighed heavily on his conscience. _No point worrying about it,_ _nothing to be done about that now. I made this bed, time to lie in it._

Right then, he was grateful that the bed was comfy.

* * *

 _ **And that's a wrap! The Ozpin in this story is not incompetent, let's make that clear. He's got a bit too much on his plate to be dealing with silly high school things on the daily, leaving a lot of the grunt work to Glynda. Now that one blond has hit Beacon, all we need is for the second to join him. Hopefully, you enjoyed this chapter, please leave any thoughts or comments that you have. I enjoy reading the comments, although I've been getting a lot of whining recently. Apparently OFNT needs to have more fighting? That's not happening, though you'll get a bit more combat in this one if that's your fix.**_

 ** _For those who wish to support me, feel free to go to_** ** _p a treon . com (slash) Faulkner to do so. Haven't had any growth for awhile and that's a bummer. Would appreciate any and all help from those who read and are willing to do so._**


	5. Difficulty Socializing

**_Greeting and salutations! A new chapter has been delivered. I had one day off of work this week, that being today, to get this finished. New job is fun, I enjoy it, trying to get an idea of how much I'll be able to write while working it. We'll see over the course of the next few weeks._**

 ** _I usually talk too much, so we'll call it here. Reception for this story is better than I expected. If I'm lucky it will stay the same way. See you guys next time!_**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

 **Difficulty Socializing**

Jaune had held a what now felt like the naive hope that the rest of the bullhead rise would have been easier after having his aura unlocked. With the power of hindsight, he now would have settled for it not having gotten worse. He'd intended to spend the rest of the flight to Beacon practicing with his newfound superpowers. Instead, he devoted his time to the pursuit of not making an ass out of himself by vomiting all over the fancy airship.

That was one task that no amount of iron will had been able to accomplish.

If there was a silver lining to his vomit filled cloud it was that he'd sequestered himself away from everyone in his failed attempt to figure out his aura, hence a lack of spectators to his shame. Aura still seemed like a bunch of hocus-pocus magic to Jaune, except he could feel it in his body. It didn't make him feel like he could fly or stop a dust-locomotive with his bare hands as he'd hoped it would. Then again, it wasn't like he'd know what to do with that kind of strength even if he did have it.

He'd been holding onto the hope that somehow he'd be some innate aura master. In the martial arts movies, there would sometimes be the city kid who had never thrown a punch in his life who turned out to be some sort of diamond-in-the-rough prodigy of untold skill. That could be him, right? In lieu of that more ambitious dream, Jaune had decided to settle for a more pertinent and imminent dream. It was rapidly coming to his attention that god didn't perceive immediacy, pertinence, or the combination of the two in any amount to be overly relevant parts of his grading criteria for prayer granting.

So there he knelt over a waste bin, hidden away in some corner of the airship, wondering why luck had forsaken him after coming in so huge for him not hours before. Considering his usual lack of conversational grace, his exchange with the ridiculously pretty white-haired girl had been comparable to tripping and then tumbling down a hill covered with landmines to them not only make it down the hill safely but also stopping in front of a pot of gold. It was possible that was more likely.

" **All students who have not disembarked should make their way to the designated exits. Thank you for flying with us and welcome to Beacon."**

Jaune groaned into the waste bin. It had been ten minutes since the first call over the ship's loudspeakers. The sound of packed students shuffling their way out had since disappeared. He could only imagine that meant some crew member was watching his wretchedness on a camera he couldn't make out. Mustering his will — if only because the idea of some poor soul being forced to assist him was a horrifying thought — Jaune rose to his feet and staggered his way to the exit.

His jellied legs regained their solidity during his walk towards the exit. By the time he was walking down the exit ramp, his poise had upgraded from that of a newborn fawn, on stilts, trying to walk on ice to something more closely resembling mild drunkenness. Not exactly the state he'd want to be in to make a first impression. At least with everybody having left so much earlier he wouldn't have to.

 _Or not._ Jaune euthanized his sigh early. He could tell that if he hadn't it would have lived far too long a life.

A small mass of black and red lay on the ground in front of him. It had taken him a few seconds to recognize that said mass was a girl. It had not taken him as long to recognize the limp lifelessness in her body that screamed 'I give!'. It was easy to recognize a posture he'd wholly adopted during the journey between Ansel and Muspel, at least the portions that didn't involve him doing some hellish variation of pull-up.

 _Cmon Jaune, suck it up! Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet._ His mother's mantra came to the forefront of his mind. Hopefully, this 'friend' wouldn't break his groin like the last stranger he'd met.

" _Hey! I fixed you up!"_ Jaune could hear Naruto's indignation to what the older blonde would assuredly label as slander. Dismissing the thought from his mind Jaune made his approach.

A minor detail he'd managed to overlook due to his previous success with the pretty girl was that he still had no idea how to talk to people. "Hi…" Jaune started, causing the girl on the ground to flinch with her entire body. "Uhh… are you okay?"

He'd seen staircases more smooth than he was.

"Yup!" The girl went from lying on her back to standing up straight so fast that he'd have missed it if he blinked. "Everything's fine! Super! Awesome!"

"Rough start?" Jaune gave her an empathetic half-smile.

"Sandpaper could take lessons from today." The girl whimpered and buried her face in her hands, another gesture more than familiar to him.

Jaune had to guess his brain was powered by a snail on a treadmill. Three whole sentences after she had stood up he offered his hand to help her up. The girl looked down at his extended hand and blinked. He looked at it and blinked. They both raised their heads once more to look at each other and blinked.

 _Kill me!_ Jaune smiled despite wanting to do nothing more than adopt the position he'd found the girl in. Being worked to death for two days must have changed something in him, because instead of doing just that his mouth moved before his mind had a chance to catch up.

"Jaune Arc."

The girl stared at his hand like it was an alien. He couldn't really hold it against her considering he was doing the same thing. It took Jaune a few seconds to recognize that he was introducing himself.

Apparently, it took the girl longer. "Jaune Arc?"

"My name," He clarified. The girl looked at him blankly. "It's short, sweet, and rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it."

If Beacon has a cliff Jaune had resolved to throw himself off it.

"They do?" The girl asked. Her voice was so innocent and trusting Jaune was sure she was genuinely asking for confirmation to make sure she understood properly.

"I hope they do?" Jaune offered with something between a grimace and a smile.

The small girl's eyes lit up as she giggled. Confronted with a force of awkwardness equal to or greater than her own she had found a sense of camaraderie. With the ice broken she figured out why his hand was extended like a limp noodle and took it in her own. Jaune's fingers easily extended around her entire hand, enveloping it

"Ruby… Rose." She added, making sure to match his full name with her own.

"Jaune Arc." He responded instinctively, forgetting he'd already said his name.

They both stared at each other.

"Ruby," Jaune started as he rubbed his face. "I would do almost anything if we could pretend this — all of this — never happened."

"I won't tell anybody if you don't?" She offered questioningly.

"Deal." Jaune laughed. His relief was palpable and soon Ruby was laughing alongside him. There was a strange sense of release from narrowly avoiding social suicide. They'd been lucky enough to show their awkwardness to someone who was similarly inept. Nobody would call it an elegant conversation, that's for sure.

But for the two of them, it did the job.

"Do you have any idea where we're supposed to be right now?" Jaune asked what he hoped was his newfound friend.

Her response wasn't anything special, at least that's what he thought initially. He would remember it in the years to come. It was the first time he was treated to what he would come to know as the Rose/Xiao-Long house special.

"Nope!"

* * *

"I'll keep this brief," Ozpin began his speech.

 _His voice is infuriating._ Kurama complained from his perch wrapped around Naruto's shoulders. _It's too dull to hold anyone's attention and too self-important for me to sleep._

Naruto flicked the fox's ear, earning himself a silent growl from Kurama for his trouble. He was curious what kind of words the headmaster would have for the new admittees to his school. As procedural and senseless as they might seem to the students at the time, an opening speech set the tone for how the school was approaching things. A school that harped on tradition was probably obsessed with their image. One that stressed strength above all would likely create a lot of bad apples.

Ozpin's words about honing skills and the danger they would face was probably mystic mumbo jumbo to the ears of these kids. What it told Naruto was that Ozpin was at least aware that these children were likely to be dragged into the war. That it was in his opening speech meant the headmaster expected it to happen soon. Which, to his credit, was accurate.

Naruto had spent a fair amount of time wandering around this land known as Remnant. He had not come to Remnant chasing anything. Adventure and whimsy were the games played by younger men, an age he was far past. No, his goal hadn't been to obtain something. His intent might not have been for self-gain, but he had certainly done so, albeit unintentionally.

"It is up to you… to take the first step." Ozpin concluded.

 _Not bad. A little too vague and mysterious for me._ Naruto gave Ozpin a passing grade. He preferred to be a bit more direct with his opening ceremonies. There wasn't much point teaching elemental natures to academy students, same went for the philosophy of action. He'd told the students that they needed to take their development as huntsmen into their own hands.

Like that would do anything.

His own son had cheated on his first chūnin exam. The uppity brat had the nerve to blame him too. That's the thing though; given some time to think, reflect, grow, and fight against a few world ending forces, Boruto had grown up. Although he remained adamant that Naruto's parenting wasn't something he should write a book about, Boruto performed dogeza for six hours before Konoha finally recertified him.

Whether youth was wasted on the young or wisdom was wasted on the old was a question for people far smarter than he was. Centuries had made such dense topics more palatable, not that that was saying much. It went The long and short of it was that he doubted Ozpin's message was going to get through to the students.

If Kurama's snoring was any indication he also found dwelling on thoughts like that pointless. The two of them had almost entirely open flowing communication at this point. Recent matters had forced him into thinking about the future of the youth. Recent for him anyways.

Professor Goodwitch instructed the students to make their way through the doors to an area that had temporarily been set up for the students to sleep before they were sorted into teams and assigned dorms. That was was Professor- Doctor Oobleck had told him. Immediately after their introductions, the good doctor had impressed upon him the importance of using his official title.

Naruto grabbed his chin and pushed it to the left, popping the vertebrae in his neck. For good measure, he attempted the same on the right side. No joy there. Enough to ease the tension but not enough to relax. It was never enough to relax.

 _Well, let's get this show on the road._ Naruto walked out from his hiding spot, a pillar between him and the crowd of students. Technically he was already playing hooky — his job being to receive the students as they arrived at the hall in which Beacon would be temporarily putting them up. He had received his co-worker's blessing to watch the opening ceremony... It was just that Naruto was already questioning how valid said permission was.

Naruto used the side entrance he'd been shown to avoid entering with the students. As expansive as the school was it took a few minutes for him to reach the hall. He was made the instant he arrived.

"Welcome back ma boy!" Professor Port greeted in the quietest voice Naruto had heard him speak in to date. It wasn't quiet — the students nearest to them turning their heads to see who the professor was greeting — but it was still the least voluminous voice he'd heard from the man. "Did you enjoy the show?"

"Too vague for me," Naruto responded as he took a seat in the spare collapsible chair next to the professor. He felt a small, involuntary smile crossing his lips. There was a sense of novelty in being called 'boy' for the first time in centuries.

"Old Oz can be a tad posh," Port sighed mightily. Naruto got the impression the strength of the sigh had more to do with the bombacity of the man himself than the subject material.

A few minutes of silence passed between them as they watched the students noisily funnel in. Sleeping bags and bedrolls had been seeded throughout the space and the students that had arrived were already keen on poaching the best real estate they could find. Naruto could tell some of the students knew each other. Others looked nervous and alone, removed from their homes and the comfort of familiarity to be thrust into a strange new place. Some few were equally alone, yet instead found comfort in solitary. One in particular had nestled into a corner with full visibility of the room, cracking open a book to settle in with.

It was perfectly normal and expected, which meant it was predictably uninteresting. It felt like a waste of time, something Naruto was happy to express if a bit more gently. "What's the reason we're here again?"

"Officially," Port put a certain emphasis on the word. "We're here to stop any fights, resolve disputes, and make sure the students are safe."

"You said the same thing three times."

"You're not supposed to call attention to that, lad. Besides, that third one is different."

Naruto chuckled. "I'm willing to bet you aren't anticipating a bunch of grimm breaking into the school," He'd forced himself to start calling them by their proper name. "What could we be keeping them safe from?"

"Themselves." Port closed his eyes and nodded profoundly.

Naruto turned his head to give him an unimpressed look. "You get a lot of fresh blood going through existential crises?"

"No. We get enough first years trying to have sex, though."

Naruto spluttered in shock and his fellow professor laughed at him for it. It was a big, booming laugh that drew the attention of students. Attention Naruto did _not_ want on them considering the current topic of conversation.

"What do you mean, _sex?!_ " Naruto hissed under his breath. "We've packed them into the hall like sardines. We've got the exits covered. They have to have one of us escort them to the restroom! Where could they even have sex?!"

Port just laughed, shaking his head jovially at his green co-worker. "You must be new to teaching teenagers. There are three things I'm certain of in this universe; The Vale council finding a way to tax every lien they possibly can, mustaches being the most essential and manly of facial hair, and seventeen-year-olds doing it wherever and whenever they can, the question of 'should they' be damned."

Naruto didn't have a response. That hadn't even remotely been a problem when he'd become a shinobi. A few of the kunoichi had crushes on Sasuke, he had a crush on Sakura, Hinata told him she'd had a crush on him, but none of them came anywhere near acting on it. Most of them almost died trying to defend their paramours before sexual intercourse was even remotely up for discussion.

"I guess proactive measures are never a bad thing," Naruto responded, still very much so unbalanced from what Port had said.

The large man shook his head with the greatest look of exasperation. "Reactive," He corrected Naruto defeatedly. "A _highly_ reactive response. We could only stomach so many huntresses failing to complete their first year because they were forced to take up more… domestic positions. We thought it a fluke at first, maybe the warm summer made them all hot and heavy. One year became two, which became three, then five. Glynda had finally had enough talking to upset fathers who'd come to Beacon with the intent of murdering their daughter's new boyfriend, or often a less committed partner. She browbeat Ozpin into mandating first night's watch after being forced to hunt down a journalist to quash an expose they'd been writing about it. And thus, here we are."

For the second time that night Naruto didn't have anything to say. It had been a long time since he'd last found himself speechless, yet somehow he's been driven to it twice tonight. He'd hoped he might find something new roaming around the universes, but he never expected anything like this. Naruto thought there was nothing left to surprise him. Tonight he found that theory to be false, only given temporary permission to exist by virtue of never having met the man known as Peter Port.

Something caught Naruto's eye from across the packed room. To him, it served as a perfectly reasonable excuse to buy him a few minutes away from Port to hopefully blow past the topic of teens and sex. Though he welcomed the excuse, the exact nature of it was enough to elicit a groan of emphatic embarrassment.

"We're allowed to interact with the students, right?" He asked Port.

"Assuming there's some sort of crisis, yes."

"This qualifies. I'm going to go stop a kid from making an ass of himself."

Port chortled. "Careful lad, that's a full-time job if I've ever heard one."

"Don't I know it," Naruto sighed, already in full stride as he maneuvered through the students on the floor towards his objective. He didn't notice how most of the students made way for him, some even looking at him with reverent gazes. He was too focused on one thing.

A pair of pajamas that he would not allow to see the light of day. "Hey there Jaune."

* * *

Jaune couldn't complain. It was a weird thought considering he'd been hunched over and clutching a waste bin for dear life not even two hours ago. Meeting Ruby had been a stroke of good fortune. Little had he known that his small and socially awkward new friend was a package deal. Red and Yellow were a matched set, sisters he'd been told, which meant Jaune had gained another acquaintance before the opening ceremony had even begun.

Yang was blonde, both as a hair color and a way of life. She was loud, forward, confident, and a bit salacious. Jaune had learned that all within the scant few minutes between Ruby failing to introduce them — something Yang did for herself — and the blonde making a dirty joke. More specifically she folded her arms under her chest, pushed it up, and then called him a pervert when he accidentally looked, only to burst into laughter when he turned the color of Ruby's cloak.

She fit the bill of being blonde much better than he did. It wasn't a bad thing, it was just… difficult. Maybe it would have been easier if she wasn't so ridiculously gorgeous. No, seriously! Jaune once had a crush on the grocer's daughter back in Ansel. She was a cute, mousey little brunette with freckled cheeks and an ample bosom even as a kid. He wasn't alone in his feelings, not by a mile. It seemed like every boy in Ansel who'd figured out an alternate purpose for hand lotion had a thing for her.

Yang made her look like three-day-old roadkill.

He knew it wasn't fair to compare people's appearances like that but come on! Yang made sure you knew she was beautiful by shoving it — or them — in your face. It wasn't fair!

Thankfully, her attention was no longer focused on teasing him. It was a blessing that had almost come too late. The absolutely relentless stream of jokes, puns, and innuendos was enough that Jaune could feel his soul exiting his body. He owed whoever had captivated the blonde menace his life.

For more reasons than one as it turned out.

"Holy crap!" Yang gave a low wolf whistle. "That is one foxy man… and a literal fox."

Jaune didn't need to follow Yang's gaze to know who she had spotted. It didn't stop him from doing so, even if it only confirmed what he'd already known. Naruto walked into the room and sat down next to the other professor.

Jaune hadn't ever paid attention to the way Naruto moved until then. His whole body was languid and calm, each step comfortable and quiet, yet Jaune knew that body was coiled like a spring, ready to explode into action at any moment. It projected serenity and strength to anyone who so much as looked at him. The way Kurama lay curled around his shoulders added a sense of mystery to him.

In short. "Oh my god, he looks so cool!" Ruby gushed. "Is he a professor? Where's his weapon? Is that really a fox?"

Similar to how he'd learned Yang like to embarrass others, Jaune had quickly discerned that Ruby was a smidge into weapons. Saying it like that was already giving him far more credit than he deserved. Anybody within a twenty-foot radius of Ruby would be able to figure that out within the hour. Unfortunately for the weapon nut, the question about weapons was the only one he couldn't answer. The only weapon he'd shown Jaune was a pencil. Although the pencil had felled a beowolf, he was sure that wasn't what Ruby was asking about.

"Yes he is a professor, yes that's really a fox," Jaune answered. "His name is Kurama."

"The professor?"

"The fox," Jaune clarified. "It talks too."

"The professor?" This time it was Yang who asked.

"The fox."

Yang gave him a look clearly designed to ask if he was high. Ruby's questions were… more direct. "He has a pet fox?! Is that his weapon?! Is he some sort of animal master?!" She barraged him.

What little Jaune knew about Kurama was enough to make his horror over him being called Naruto's pet hard to conceal. He answered 'yes' to the first question and ignored the others, praying Kurama was never awake or aware should she ever suggest something like that again.

"How do you know this guy? Is he famous or something?" Yang asked.

"Not that I know of…" Jaune answered hesitantly. He wasn't exactly the most up to date person on celebrities, huntsmen or otherwise. "I met him on the road."

"Didn't peg you for the traveling type."

Jaune shrugged. "You're not wrong. I'm from a small town. I needed to take the bullhead in the next town over in order to get to one of the Beacon pickup sites."

Yang easily accepted his explanation as she turned her head back towards Naruto. He was grateful for her shift in attention as he tried to force down his rising guilt. He hadn't lied to her… technically. Both of those statements were true.

"Moving on, what's the hot prof teaching?"

That he didn't know, an answer Yang was less than satisfied with. He batted back a few other questions in much the same way. No, he didn't know why he was teaching here. No, he didn't know where Naruto was from. No, he didn't know if Kurama could shoot laser beams.

He didn't doubt it though. The fox already talked. How unlikely were lasers?

"Aww," Ruby's disappointment was worn as clearly as her cloak had been. The two sisters had managed to change into their pajamas by taking turns using a blanket to cover one another. Jaune wanted to put his own pajamas on, the denim of his jeans didn't lend itself as well to relaxing. A lack of means by which to do so was the only thing standing in his way.

"So Jaune," that and the limitless questions being directed his way. "Did you see Ruby explode?"

"Explode?" Jaune's confusion seemed to serve as an answer for the blonde. He'd only separated from Ruby twice. Once to go to the restroom since he'd met her after leaving the ship, then a second time when they were led by the professors to deposit their weapons in the weapons locker before sleeping. He would not mention that the first trip was to overcome the last bit of residual air sickness to the two girls, rather one in particular. He imagined Yang would not let him live it down if she knew, that seemed to be her thing.

"Yaaaaaaang! Don't tell him!" Ruby whined loudly. The blonde sister grinned mischievously as Ruby tried and failed to cover her mouth.

"Give me some credit, Rubes. I wouldn't sell you out like that," Not even a fraction of Ruby looked convinced of that. "Seriously, what kind of big sister would tease her little sister in front of a stranger?"

"You," Ruby deadpanned. Yang held her hand to her heart like she'd been pierced by an arrow. "And Jaune isn't a stranger, he's a friend!"

Jaune struggled to keep his facial muscles under control. He'd been hoping she considered him a friend too. Hearing her confirm it so defensively was almost too cute for words.

"A friend who's a boy..." Yang's voice practically frolicked with glee. Jaune could tell Ruby wanted to kill her older sister, something easy to discern when you had six of them. Yang seemed to take the hint and let it go. "I'll file that one away for later. As far as Rubes exploding goes, we shouldn't have to worry about getting singed. Well, unless we have another run in with the frigid ice bi-ohtheresheis."

"Crud…"

"I was hoping you'd realize on your own how insufferably loud and disruptive you were being. I see, despite my patience in the matter, you have not." A familiar, if slightly more shrill voice scolded them.

When Jaune turned to see what was going on he had a minorly different reaction than the other two. "It's good to see you again."

Yang might have suspected he was high earlier, but now there was no other possibility to explain the pleasant greeting he'd just given. A head of pristine white hair flipped as the head it was beholden to turned his way. The girl had beautiful blue eyes and the most dressy set of pajamas he'd ever seen that matched them completely in color. Yang was smoking hot, no doubt about that. This girl? She was the most elegantly refined and beautiful girl he'd ever seen.

Jaune felt like he'd already had that thought. That knowledge didn't stop him from having it again.

"Oh." The girl's shock was evident. "You're with _them?_ "

"Hey!"

Jaune didn't notice Yang had spoken. "Yeah. I found Ruby as I got off the airship and she introduced me to her sister, Yang. Speaking of finding people, did you ever find the person you were looking for?"

"I- no... I never did manage to find her."

That was the first Jaune had heard about the person being female. "If you need any help looking for her tomorrow let me know. I owe you one, maybe one-hundred." Jaune laughed. Now that he had it, the thought of attempting any huntsman work without it was equivocal to suicide. He really did owe her.

"I appreciate that." The girl responded, robbed of all her bluster. Jaune's obliviousness in the face of her precious ire had effectively defused her. The girl puffed herself back up, determined to be annoyed at those who had disturbed her. Jaune, of course, didn't notice. "It is late. You should be sleeping, not idly prattling to one another."

Jaune reflexively checked his scroll to note the time. The shuffling around from place to place they'd done after the opening ceremony had eaten no small amount of time. "Crap, you're right. We really should be hitting the hay. Ugh…" Jaune groaned, realizing how little sleep he'd be getting. He opened his travel bag and started digging through it for his pajamas. "Thanks for the warning."

It would have sounded sarcastic coming from anyone else. It wasn't meant that way, Jaune hadn't even thought it could sound that way, and the girl picked up on it. Her resummoned bluster was blown away as her face trembled with a sort of childishness Yang would have previously thought impossible. This was a girl who was used to people capitulating to her desires or arguing back against her. She was not one who was used to being thanked for what people had frequently called her bossiness.

Her mind took at least a minute of the most awkward silence — again, completely unnoticed by Jaune who was busy rummaging through his bag — to process what was the social equivalent of the triangle peg trying to be put through the square hole. In that minute she failed to come up with anything better than what she'd been ready to reply immediately. "You're welcome."

Jaune looked up from his bag to try his best at flashing her a roguish grin. His utter lack of roguishness made him look more like a euphorically happy golden retriever. Turning back to his poorly packed bag, he finally managed to find the pajamas he was looking for. A baby-blue onesie that he had to button up from the front. His mother had gotten it for him on his last birthday.

Jaune's exceptional fortune proved itself the train that had no stops as he was not the only one to reach his destination.

"Hey, Jaune. It's been a few days."

* * *

Naruto was torn between being disappointed when the sound of his voice was enough to make Jaune not only flinch but convulse. The body did not easily forget that which had put it through hell on earth. Jaune's body had developed an instinctual fear of words from his mouth.

 _I'd be proud._ Kurama chuckled through their mental connection. Naruto's slightly frantic pace on the way over had woken him up from his nap atop Naruto's shoulders.

 _I know you'd be proud. I didn't question whether or not you would or would not be proud because I knew the answer!_

 _Then what's the problem? You're proud, I'm proud, we all win._

 _Sharing your standards of judgement isn't what I'd call winning!_

Jaune was paralyzed by the fear that Naruto had trained into his body, that he understood. What he didn't understand was why the three girls he'd been talking to looked just as petrified. Well, maybe not the blonde girl. It took him a moment to remember that he wasn't a hero in Remnant. He didn't have any of the expectations that he'd had back home. The students were afraid of him because he was a professor. It was that simple.

That made him happy.

"H-hey N-n-narut-Professor Naruto." Jaune stammered out. Naruto couldn't find it in his heart to blame the poor kid. Whether or not he'd known it, he had almost died quite a few times during their training. It took a chakra jumpstart every few hours to get Jaune moving again. The body instinctively feared death, and it knew Naruto had almost killed it even if Jaune didn't.

"Naruto, please. Professor sounds weird coming from your mouth," Naruto chuckled as Jaune relaxed, though only a small amount.

He was sure most teachers would have cared more for their professional obligation to demand someone to address them properly. He'd made a fuss about the teacher's calling him Naruto, making his desire for Jaune to keep calling him by his given name look inconsistent. The defining factor was that he didn't know the professors like he knew Jaune.

Naruto saw himself in Jaune. He'd been a lot harder working as a kid than the young blond, obviously, yet the failure who wanted to make something of himself was near and dear to his heart. He knew Jaune well enough that having the boy refer to him so impersonally would feel like a loss. He hadn't heard his name in decades before meeting the boy. It was primarily the fault of the rapid culture change in his home over the past century.

He turned to face the three girls. "Welcome to Beacon. You can call me Professor Uzumaki. I'll be teaching Mission and Field Tactics this year."

That was the working plan, with high emphasis on the working. Ozpin has practically rolled out the red carpet for him after their interview. He didn't feel well equipped to teach anything other than field work and combat. He could have taught history in Konoha. He WAS history in Konoha. For the present, he'd chosen something he was confident in his ability to teach.

"A pleasure to meet you, Professor," The white-haired girl was the first one to muster a greeting. Her voice betrayed her uncertainty to Naruto's trained ears. "My name is Weiss Schnee. I look forward to learning from you this year."

Naruto nodded without bothering himself to give a verbal response. He hadn't perceived her honeyed words well. _She's only trying to be polite._ He forced himself to keep that in mind. The past few decades had intensified a long-held dislike of formal simpering to full-on disdain.

Naruto remembered his original goal when he spied his target poking out of Jaune's bag. "Now that's unfortunate. It looks like your nightwear has a hole in it."

Naruto was already bending down to the bag before Jaune could fully withdraw the horrendous article of clothing. It made Lee's jumpsuit look tolerable, a feat by no means small. Forcing his hand into Jaune's bag, Naruto grabbed the offensive rag and shoved it back into the bag.

"See, right there." Naruto molded his chakra and use the wind element to split the blue abomination like a piece of chakra paper.

"Holy crap! That's huge! How did I miss that?"

"No idea. You'll need to go boxers and a t-shirt tonight. Real shame…"

Naruto felt he deserved a medal for his meritorious service in the line of making sure his pseudopupil didn't make an irrevocable ass of himself. He wouldn't receive any praise from the blockhead, he was too busy staring at the hole in his shirt like a complete idiot. Like many adults, Naruto was telling himself something that was simply not true in an attempt to retain some dignity.

 _I was never that stupid as a kid._

Kurama snorted, shocking the small black haired girl who hadn't spoken yet.

"Ummmm… does he really talk?"

Kurama eyeballed Naruto, his lack of enthusiasm at the prospect of talking to a random student clear. Naruto held his hand ready to flick his companion's ear. It was that and only that which led to the fox's eventual capitulation.

 _Boo_.

Sort of.

Despite the drollness of Kurama's delivery the small girl still jumped as if he were a ghost. The poor girl turned as white as a sheet and moved to hide behind the larger blonde girl. Naruto could tell it was only through supreme force of will that she stopped herself from doing so. He shot the fox a dirty look who closed his eyes unrepentantly.

"Sorry, he takes awhile to warm up to kids. It's not like he hates them or anything-"

 _Says who?_

"Not that he dislikes you in particular..."

 _See previous question._

"He opens up over time."

 _Fox to host, Fox to host; you are veering dangerously into the perilous waters of bullshit. Please correct your course immediately._

 _You opened up to Boruto! Naruto snapped silently at his companion._

 _I thought the brat was going to be my next jailer. I was securing favorable accommodations._

 _He grew on you and you know it._

 _Tumors can grow on people._

 _Oh, I've had it up to here with your semantical bull-_

"That's good," The small girl cut his mental conversation off. "I was thinking he might be your weapon or something. He'd look mega awesome if he were a fighting fox! Not that he's not awesome already, he looks really cool, his fur is really pretty…" The girl continued taking, but her volume declined with each passing line until Naruto couldn't make out what she was saying anymore.

Kurama could. _I hate to admit that I'm impressed. The brat has got good tastes._

Naruto gave his partner a withering look. It was almost insulting how easy it was for her to win over his partner.

"I'm Yang," The blonde cut into the conversation with the obvious intent of making sure her muttering sister didn't dig herself any deeper. The small one would have given Shino a run for his money for subdued murmurs at the pace she was going. "What exactly is mission and field tactics class going to be like? Every other class is all like 'History' or 'Grimm Studies', ya know? Obvious stuff."

Naruto had rehearsed to answer that exact question. "It will be a class focused primarily on the skills you'll need to handle your missions. We'll cover topics such as battle tactics, foraging, proper mission pacing, and general mentality towards your fieldwork. The headmaster was concerned at the lack of methodology taught towards huntsmen in training and brought me on to rectify it."

Naruto was proud of his speech, particularly the word 'methodology'. He'd found it perusing the dictionary one day. A habit Kurama had started him on to learn the language that wasn't so terrible as he thought it would be. Not that it was a high hurdle to surpass…

 _Let's ignore the part where we told the headmaster we knew he was immortal and then strong-armed our way into the position. Those details undermine the whole moral high ground you're trying to stand on._

 _I wanted the interview! I didn't trust my resume! Sue me!_

 _You weren't confident in your ability to get hired at a school training people to fight things after spending a majority of your first century fighting things? I think they have blue pills here for performance issues like that._

"So you're like a real huntsman? You've been out there and fought grimm and stuff?" The small one brought their conversation to a grinding halt.

When Naruto looked at her he tried not to balk at the sparkles and rainbows that virtually painted the young girl's eyes. "I've fought my fair share of grimm. I decided to retire from active duty to focus on my passion."

 _With some incredibly loose interpreting that's actually true. We massacred several hundred of those fake animals for giggles in the Grimmlands. If you want to call your passion finding a passion you're clear on the second one too._

Naruto ignored his partner in favor of Weiss. "I look forward to your class Professor Uzumaki. I assure you I will be one of the top performers."

 _That brat needs to figure out her priorities. I can't tell if she wants to get more brown on her nose or stroke her own ego more._

This time Naruto was inclined to agree with his partner. This Weiss girl was not his bowl of ramen. With his mission accomplished it was time to get out of here. "Glad to hear it. I didn't come over to make small talk, you all need to get to bed. Initiation is tomorrow, you'll need to be well rested."

He assumed they would. Naruto hadn't actually been told what initiation was. He'd heard the term thrown around enough by the professors that it had hammered a permanent residence in his brain. Even if they didn't need the sleep it wasn't like getting it would hurt them. It was an impossible question what young children were made of that somehow made sleep seem like a punishment for them. He knew adults that would sign entire paychecks away for mandatory nap time at their place of work.

The students complied visually, though he could hear the hushed whispers of the two sisters as Weiss walked away. Jaune made the decision to sleep in his jeans and hoodie with his sleepwear now defunct. He was surprised so many of the students had chosen to strip and change in the crowded space. Naruto had spent weeks without changing his clothes on certain missions, everyone from his village had. Sometimes clean clothes didn't and shouldn't make the priority list.

"Sorry about that," Naruto apologized to his mustached colleague as he retook the seat next to him. "Crisis averted."

"Helped the boy save face in front of three charming huntresses?" Port's mustache waggled teasingly. Naruto didn't know a mustache could do that, let alone be so taunting in the process of doing so.

"He needs all the help he can get. As soon as he gets a team he'll be their problem. All I'm going to do is try to make sure he gets to the team making process without outing himself as a moron. Does that happen at initiation tomorrow?"

"Indubitably! You're lucky enough that your quest to keep your boy's reputation will be a short one."

Naruto nodded in agreement. Jaune's absolute certainty in that hideous onesie had him questioning his first orange jumpsuit. He sought refuge in conversation in an effort to escape the mounting paranoia over his old wardrobe choice.

"What were we talking about before I left?"

"Teenagers having sex."

Naruto sighed. It was going to be a long night.


	6. Cub Meets Fire Cat

**_Greetings and salutations! I am on my lunch break of work so you all get spared a long AN._**

 ** _I have more written for this story, but not enough to make a double release. The length is a bit shorter than normal because of that. The next chapter will be a bit longer as it is more capable of adequately fitting the length. Will explain more at post-AN._**

 ** _Sorry for the delay, I intend to release a chapter of OFNT and F &C this week if able. In the span of this week I have had my vehicle broken into and the back glass shattered, almost broken my leg, did a 12 hour drive to get a new puppy (Ronan. Pictures will be on pa+reon for those few who care.), and a few miscellaneous other details. I still intend to try and keep to the new schedule, hence shooting for two chapters this week. I don't want to fall behind, I want to catch up!_**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

 **Cub Meets Fire Cat**

Was this the initiation test? Jaune didn't think it was, it shouldn't be, but was it? Maybe this was a bonafide exam meant to test their individual tracking skills. As stupid as it sounded it had to be that.

Otherwise, why was he having so much trouble finding a damn locker!

"It can't be higher than 636, it can't be. I'd remember if I had to count that high." Jaune muttered to himself as he distractedly glanced from locker to locker.

Knowing that would have been helpful if the placement of the lockers made some semblance of sense. They weren't arranged in numerical order, they weren't arranged in sections, and they weren't put together by any discernible rhyme or reason Jaune could comprehend. The only logical conclusion was that Beacon was giving them a test. A test he was currently failing.

In the midst of his furritive and random glancing, he spied Weiss. She'd revealed her name to him when she introduced herself to Naruto last night and he wouldn't dream of forgetting it. She was refined and nice, exactly the kind of person he'd want to be on a team with. If he could admit it to himself, he was beginning to develop a small crush on her too. He was tempted to walk over to her and give his best attempt at flirting.

Naruto's sermons were enough to stop him. He'd have time to get the beautiful girl after he made his way through initiation. He still had no clue what initiation was, like at all. Hopefully, they all got together and picked partners or something. He knew from his dad that all huntsmen had partners they would go through school together with. A fair amount of them chose to work together even after they'd graduated.

Maybe that could be him and Weiss? It was worth a shot.

 _Don't be a doofus, don't be a doofus, don't be a doofus…_ Jaune echoed the thought in his own mind until there was nothing left to distract him. Confident as he could be that he'd not make a fool of himself. He wasn't very confident.

"Hey Weiss," Jaune said as he walked over to her. He kept his stride even and deliberate, doing his best to replicate Naruto's gait.

He tripped.

His hand reflexively reached out to grab something — anything — that would stop his fall. He'd been walking straight towards Weiss, meaning what was directly in front of him was…

Another girl?

"Are you okay?" She asked, holding his upper body in one arm while his feet remained on the ground, balancing him like a plank. The girl knew she'd stopped his fall. She only asked to give him a moment to regain his bearings.

"Yeah," Jaune accepted her help to upright him. "Sorry, I must be a bit out of it."

"That's fine." The girl said genially. It was at that moment Jaune finally managed to get his head screwed on straight and get a look at who'd saved him from eating the floor.

Her hair was the first thing Jaune noticed. It was red like the setting sun, or maybe a smoldering fire. His eyes were then drawn to her eyes, two dull yet beautiful emeralds. Her armor struck the balance between protective and maneuverable.

Any further observation was cut off. "Jaune?"

"Yeah… hey Weiss." Jaune cringed. He'd managed to avoid making a fool of himself for the entire day yesterday, a miracle by any standards. He should have expected such luck to be incapable of holding.

"You two know each other?" The girl asked. Was it Jaune's imagination, or was she slowly edging herself away from the two of them?

"No- well yes, sort of." Weiss corrected. "Jaune is something of an acquaintance of mine."

"We met on the Bullhead ride over." He explained. "Weiss helped me out by… err… she helped prepare me for Beacon." Jaune amended what he was going to say midway through after receiving a commanding glare from Weiss.

"Jaune is a skilled huntsman who trained outside the kingdoms in his travels," Weiss explained what she thought was his backstory.

It had been two days and Jaune was already learning to skip rope with the technicality of truth.

"Well then, I wish you the best of luck today Jaune."

The benefits of being a loser growing up were few and far between. His mom would always say that the bullies were big in school, but later in life it would be the people with good jobs and money who were cool. He was never sure if his mother was trying to reassure him when she said that, as he was neither smart nor cool.

He'd long believed that being a loser had no benefits. What shouldn't have surprising was that he'd learned to pick up on people who were being polite. Sometimes parents would force their kids to interact with another family's kids. It was kind of expected that no matter how boring you found the other kid or how much you disliked them you would be polite as to not embarrass your family. The Arc family name held a little water and his mother would never allow him to be rude to others.

Jaune could tell this girl did not want to talk to him. The momentary interest after catching him had died immediately after he'd said he knew Weiss. She had the same bored obligatory expression of a child being forced to mingle. In his mind that was her loss. Not so much for not knowing him — there wasn't much to lose out on there — rather that she didn't seem interested in giving Weiss a chance. She'd saved his bacon by giving him aura. Jaune knew Weiss was a good person that this girl should be lucky to talk to.

"Thanks. Same to you." Jaune responded with the same lifeless courtesy. He extended his hand, a trained response to meeting someone new. "Jaune Arc."

"Pyrrha Nikos." The girl took his hand and shook it. Jaune had no idea where a name like that came from. It sounded foreign to him.

"Nice to meet you Pyro Nekos."

Jaune knew that he had made a mistake because Weiss' face told him he had. He could see the mistake in her horror, not that he had any clue what that mistake was.

Pyro blinked. Jaune could see the gears of her mind come to a grinding halt as it failed to compute some impossibility that Jaune either didn't know or failed to comprehend.

"Err… sorry. Did I pronounce Pyro wrong?"

"It's Pyr-rha you twit!" Weiss hissed at him. Jaune flinched, not having expected such a negative reaction from Weiss.

He'd expected Pyro-Pyrrha's reaction even less. "That's fine," The girl beamed at him, her dull emerald orbs suddenly sparkling with life. "It's a foreign name. Have you… never heard it before?"

"Sorry," Jaune apologized to her for the third time. She seemed really hopeful, probably because she wanted him to know her name. Was she an actress or some heiress to a company? "Never heard it in my life. Not that that means anything!" Jaune quickly added as Pyrrha's expression shifted. "I was born in a small town and didn't get into the main kingdoms. Well, basically never."

"You've never heard… of Pyrrha Nikos?" Weiss asked him, scarcely believing that such a ridiculous question need be asked in the first place.

"No?" He answered back uncertainly. "Am I- uhh… supposed to?"

"Of course-"

"Not." Pyrrha cut Weiss off. Jaune may not have been a social wizard, but he was fairly certain that was not what she was going to say. "I used to fight in tournaments where I'm from. Mistral. Some people may have heard of me from that." She added, answering Jaune's unspoken question.

"That's cool," Jaune answered earnestly. Someone who fought other huntsmen in the ring? That was incredible. If Weiss had heard of her that probably meant she was pretty good at it too. "Maybe you can teach me a few things you learned. God knows I'll need the help."

"Jaune, you can't just ask her to-"

"I'd be glad to." Pyrrha interrupted Weiss once again. It was a little annoying to Jaune that she kept cutting his sorta-friend off. Then again, maybe it was unintentional. He hadn't exactly conducted himself with anything akin to social grace either.

Pyrrha's entire aura had changed from the time he'd introduced himself to now. She looked to be bursting with life with a smile bridging from one side of her face to the other. It made her look even more attractive. First Weiss, then Yang, now Pyrrha; were all the girls at Beacon going to be devastatingly, drop-dead gorgeous? It was getting ridiculous.

"That's cool…" Jaune answered again. He did not have the social skills to cope with this situation in any way. "A-anyways, I was just wondering if you'd seen locker…" Jaune paused. He had no idea what his locker number was. That was part of the problem. How would anyone know if they'd seen his number if he didn't even know what it was?! "Never mind."

"Were you looking for your weapon?" Pyrrha asked him.

He contemplated saying no to try and save face. He almost gave in to his desire to avoid embarrassment before reluctantly nodding. Better to look like an idiot if it increased his chance of finding his weapons for initiation.

"What kind of weapon?" She asked.

"A sword and a shield. Why?"

"I thought I might have seen it through the grates in the lockers." Pyrrha closed her eyes, the action silencing all three of them for ten seconds. "No, I can't say I've seen a shield and a sword. I saw a sword in a scabbard a few lockers that way."

Jaune took off towards where she was pointing without another word. Heading straight down the aisle and a few lockers down he finally came across a set of lockers that jogged his memory. Squaring himself in front of one he entered the code into the keypad. Divine providence smiled on him that day. The locker opened and revealed Crocea Mors.

"Thank god." Jaune sighed in relief. He withdrew his sword and sheathed it on his back. Remembering himself, he darted back towards Pyrrha and Weiss. "Found it!"

Pyrrha eyed him quizzically as she saw the sword handle poking out of the scabbard on his back. "I thought you said it was a sword and a shield."

"It is. The scabbard thingy transforms into the shield."

"Mechashift." Weiss corrected. Was it Jaune's imagination or did she seem to be in a poor mood?

"Yeah, that."

"I also use a sword and shield. Perhaps we'll be partners," Weiss looked mortified at the suggestion. "Of course I can't be certain. I intend to let the chips fall where they may."

"Not worrying about things you can put off is a plan I can get behind."

Pyrrha giggled. Why were her expressions so vibrant when they'd been anything but not minutes before? Jaune decided to adopt her policy and throw that mystery on the pile of 'things he didn't have to deal with now, so he wouldn't'.

"Well, I'm going to go on ahead. If I couldn't manage to find my locker I'm not going to leave it to chance that I find wherever we're supposed to be heading in a timely manner," Jaune chuckled awkwardly at his conversational gracelessness. Pyrrha laughed, making him feel a bit better. "I'll be going. Welcome to Vale. I hope you like it here!"

Pyrrha smiled coyly as she waved a goodbye. "I'm beginning to think I will."

* * *

Naruto was no stranger to long nights. Being the Hokage had left him buried in paperwork ninety-five percent of the time in his early years. Eventually, on his son's recommendation, he learned to leave paperwork to his clones. Naruto had viewed all Hokage duties as something he needed to attend to personally when he first started. Iruka-Sensei had sympathized, saying that he'd been much more hands-on with academy students when he first started.

There was just something about starting a new job that made you want to put your all into it, no matter how old you got.

That was the only reason he could conjure up to explain why he was standing on a hill with Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch instead of following Port's example and heading straight to bed. The man had already made Naruto abandon any hope of referring to him by his formal title, in a single night no less. The man had worn his resistance down to non-existence with social tactics Naruto felt comfortable likening to that of attritive warfare.

"If you are exhausted you should rest while you can," Professor Goodwitch advised him. "All teachers will need to attend the naming ceremony. If you don't sleep now you won't find time until this evening."

Naruto already knew that — Ozpin having given him a brief itinerary before the students had even arrived. Hearing it put into words was enough to make him yawn, an action he immediately stifled as the female professor eyed him with some concern.

"I'll be fine. I'm used to doing all-nighters for work."

"You don't presently look like one accustomed to long nights," Ozpin commented dryly.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I'm plenty used to long nights. What I wasn't prepared for was to be bombarded with horror stories the entire time. They took a toll on me."

"Horror stories?" Professor Goodwitch asked with a small note of surprise. "Peter normally prefers drowning the nearest ear with epics, not horrors."

"Horror might not be the right way to describe it," Naruto ceded. "Hearing his tales of all the various sorts of dress or lack thereof he'd found students in combined with the… specific activities they were undergoing at said time…"

Professor Goodwitch flinched. "Ah," Was all she could reply.

"Exactly," Naruto sighed. "I spent the whole night worrying about what I'd do if faced with similar situations. It was… taxing, to say the least."

Ozpin chuckled. "You said you've taught before. Did you never have to deal with amorous students in the past?"

"The students I had were concerned enough with the possibility of death that they had the sense to put sex past the backburner and off the stove entirely."

"If only." Professor Goodwitch sighed, massaging the bridge of her nose. "The children at this school could benefit from a more serious approach towards their education."

"Now Glynda, they're only children. It's natural that-"

"Reverse spread-eagled piledriver was one of the many delightful terms Port had to define for me," Naruto interrupted Ozpin. "Would you care to hear how he described it?"

"That won't be necessary."

Naruto didn't have time to savor his victory. The high-tempo of the approaching footsteps was enough to identify the excited students. To the teachers here it was another day with another batch of fresh faces. Some students would impress, others would fall short of expectations. That was part of the job.

To the students, it was the first step on their new, terrifying, and exciting journey. To the teachers, it was a Monday. Naruto's own enthusiasm lay somewhere in between that of emotionally catatonic professor and excitable student. He felt something at least.

That was an improvement.

It wasn't long after that all the students had assembled. Naruto found himself judging the quality of students Beacon had admitted for a number of reasons. There was the fact that they looked weak, some even looking unmotivated, but that wasn't the primary offender.

That would be the state of dress for some of the girls. He really shouldn't have — the kunoichi of his generation had dressed in some… questionable getups. While the complaint against someone like Ino was a lack of clothing — which Beacon certainly had with a girl like Yang — it was the dresses that were driving him crazy. He'd seen people fight in dresses on rare occasion.

It was stupid, ineffective, and revealed a priority on aesthetics over functionality.

That miff demanded his attention like a bug bite insisting on being scratched. The more attention he paid to it, the more he noticed all the ways it annoyed him. _You can't do split or high kicks in a dress. They'll catch all sorts of branches as they run. Their legs are completely exposed to environmental hazards._

A freight train's worth of grumbling about the demerits of ineffective field clothes was enough to carry him to the point that all the students had assembled. There was a fair amount, probably somewhere around forty students. Naruto had been around Remnant for a few years now, and the student count made little sense to him considering the state of this world. Salem has pushed humans back to five percent of the available land, shouldn't there be a huge drive for huntsmen?

Naruto wasn't sure how long Ozpin had been taking when he noticed it. Whether it was his thoughts distracting him or the brevity of Ozpin's speech that had Naruto almost miss it entirely was up for debate. The headmaster said something praising the hard work the kids had put in through the years. The address would do little to assuage any egoists amongst the students. What it did accomplish was making a certain blonde look incredibly guilty.

When Professor Goodwitch told them they'd be making teams today the reactions were a mixed bag. Then Ozpin followed her up.

"It is very important that you all form strong and lasting partnerships. Your partner will be the candle that lights your way and guides you through your time at Beacon. Because it is such a weighty decision, we have decided to give agency to the students to choose their partners."

The girl Naruto could only remember as Yang's sister sighed in audible relief.

She shouldn't have.

"The first student you make eye contact with will be your partner for your remaining four years at Beacon. Be sure to choose carefully."

It may have been a sign that old age had left Naruto's brain with a few holes that he didn't find that news as ridiculous as the way the students reacted made it seem. The kids could find whoever they wanted as their partner in the forest if they were competent. The same went for avoiding those they didn't want to pair with. Deciding by eye contact was no different from letting the most competent choose their partner.

 _It's clever, really._ Kurama commented. He was awake and alive unlike his partner, the fox making the intelligent decision to sleep through the night and spare himself Port's stories. _The strong will seek the strong and naturally form the teams meant for their most difficult missions._

Naruto didn't chuckle, but his mirth washed through Kurama. The two often didn't communicate in words, instead sharing their emotions directly through their link. _I doubt things will be so picturesque for them. Friends will seek each other out over strangers more capable._

 _Humph. It's not bad for them either way. Even if one's friend is weak, their teamwork can make up for it. You're still alive, that's proof enough that a strong partner can protect a useless friend._

 _We have some drastically different recollections of the past._

 _The difference being that mine are correct._

Naruto rolled his eyes at that and let the conversation go. He wasn't giving in, but three hundred-ish years later hadn't changed either of their stances on the topic. In reality, both of them knew they survived because of immense joint effort. The playful banter was one way to levy some small amount of interest into life's mundanities.

His next thought as Professor Goodwitch and Ozpin continued to talk was how obvious this surprise test was. The students had been placed over squares of metal, which was notable in the otherwise grassed ground. That there was one student per square was enough of a hint that those squares were going to do something for anyone to figure out. Naruto had his doubts, a certain cub of a huntsman only intensifying them.

"Do not hesitate to destroy anything in your path or you will die."

Naruto tilted his head to look Kurama directly in the eyes. They both sighed. Cliches were a bitch.

"To that end, it is important that you be prepared to adapt to any situations that may arise as a huntsman."

With a tap of some buttoned mechanism, Ozpin sent a student flying through the air. Naruto wasn't sure how some of the students could look even half as shocked as they did. Did they think the metal pads they were standing on were decorations?

"You will be sent to the Emerald Forest. Within its grimm infested woods lies a shrine-"

 _Is it lies, lays, or lay?_ Kurama asked him. _This language is needlessly complicated. It's been years and I still don't understand it._

Naruto didn't have time to answer him, not that he knew the answer. Kurama was right. The language _was_ dreadful. "There you shall find many relics. Choose one with your partner and make your way back here to complete your initiation and be recognized as huntsmen and huntresses of Beacon Academy."

"Uhhh, sir?" Jaune asked nervously. "What about that guy?" Jaune pointed to the forest.

"Hmm?" Ozpin looked at Jaune like he had asked a foolish question. Naruto was on the student's side this time. What the hell was that about? "I assume whoever he partnered with would inform him of everything he'd missed here. Acting on partial or no information is a skill any huntsman should seek to master."

 _Bull._ Naruto and Kurama agreed simultaneously.

Jaune didn't think so. He accepted the headmaster's words with frightened silence. The time for speeches now over. The students braced themselves as one after another was launched into the forest down below.

Well, most were. "Sir? How are we supposed to get down there?"

"You will need to conceive and implement your own landing strategy," Ozpin replied.

It was easy to see that was not the response Jaune was hoping for. "How?"

"Figure it out," Naruto answered.

Jaune wisely stopped talking. Blubbering like an infant who had lost their mother in front of all the students who might potentially be his partner was not the note to start things out on. If he kept his mouth shut, the idiot — and Naruto used that term with affection — might be able to look competent enough to attract a partner that would keep him alive.

The poor bastard's legs were trembling from the time he figured out he was about to be a human-shaped projectile until the time he became one.

But hey, to his credit, Jaune didn't say another word.

He did scream a few once he was in the air.

* * *

"Well, that could have gone worse." Jaune rationalized as he tried to pull at the spear-thing that was currently pinning his hoodie to the tree. He was amazed the fabric didn't tear or split, barring the hood that had been pierced through.

Someone had almost impaled him midair. Whoever had thrown the spear had saved him, yet was a few inches away from killing him too. Gratitude was hard to separate out from the annoyance of almost being turned into a kebab. Why did Beacon launch him off the side of a cliff anyways?! Having aura didn't mean they could skydive without a parachute!

That was his rationale at least. He was beginning to question it as he watched Weiss jump off some shimmering platforms she was conjuring while Yang fired some sort of wrist weapon to push herself through the air. To Jaune that seemed like a horrible waste of ammo, but what did he know?

The sound of a bush parting sent his senses into overdrive. His mind operating at a hundred thoughts a second tried to figure out how to deal with the grimm that was coming for him while he hanged on the tree like a coat left on the rack. He soon found that he needn't have worried in the first place. It was no grimm.

"Hey Pyrrha," Jaune waved shamefacedly.

The girl smiled at him before giving him a confused look. "Pyrrha? You must have me confused with someone else. My name is Pyro Nekos."

"Oh ha ha. Laugh it up." Jaune groused. Pyrrha obliged him, poorly stifling her giggles with a hand to her mouth. "Could you get me down from here?"

"Sure thing," Pyrrha agreed. She began to step towards him before stopping. "You're the first person I made eye contact with. Am I?..."

"We're partners, god help you."

Pyrrha giggled again. "I'm sure you'll be a fantastic partner."

"That makes one of us."

Pyrrha continued laughing as she athletically jumped up the tree to remove the spear from his hoodie. He fell to the ground with stiff legs followed by an unimpressive fall.

"Okay, maybe your strategy of letting the chips fall where they may wasn't such a good one," Jaune said, admonishing his terrible landing.

Pyrrha only had a smile and a few words for him. "I think everything turned out the best I could have hoped for."

Jaune almost jumped back into the tree he'd been stuck to when he heard another rustling from the bushes. Instead of the beowolf he again expected, again he found a pretty girl.

Weiss took one look at him before her eyes flicked to Pyrrha and then back to him again. They were the eyes of someone who didn't want to accept the reality before her.

"Drat!"

* * *

"Initiation is going smoothly this year." Ozpin smiled.

"Smoothly?" Naruto asked. "Did you intend for the students to be chased around by a giant sasori?"

The three of them were watching the students on various holographic projections. They weren't making three-dimensional representations of the students, the device merely projected a virtual screen onto the air somehow. Technology had advanced a lot back home since the days of old. Thankfully holograms were still within his realm of understanding.

Jaune had managed to find a cave. For some reason, Jaune had felt the need to explore that cave with his recently made partner. Accompanying them was Weiss, one of the girls he'd been introduced to last night. Why no one had stopped Jaune at the idea to explore a dark cave was anyone's guess. The blonde had seemed convinced that the shrine lay within its depths.

Ozpin brought him back to reality. "Do you mean the deathstalker?"

"Deathstalker?" He asked disbelievingly. "Are you serious?"

To Naruto, it was a fair question. Deathstalker? Really? Did all their names have to be so dramatic? It was only an oversized sasori, what was the fuss about?

"To answer the previous question; while we do cull the Emerald Forest of more dangerous and harmful grim on a regular basis, it wouldn't do to have it filled with only the weakest of grimm."

"It's also difficult to imagine exactly where the more dangerous grimm are located," Professor Goodwitch added. "Grimm population control is a weekly duty for us professors. Locating the more dangerous elements while not clearing out the weaker grimm on which our students gain their experience in a more controlled environment is not an exact science."

"Make too much noise and the beowolves and ursa will fall onto you in waves. Make too little and you could spend hours searching for even a single greater grimm. It is a balancing act one must learn to be a professor of Beacon."

Naruto didn't agree or disagree, not verbally at least, deciding the best course was silence. He certainly wouldn't be blindly flailing through the forest any time soon. He could detect the grimm, tracking their unique energy like he would any other being. They were a different breed than he was used to, but he'd had centuries to hone his detection abilities. While grimm were not made of nor did they possess chakra, they were beings made of a type of energy. One he'd become quite familiarly acquainted with in the past few years.

"It looks like our first team has been formed. Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark, Russel Thrush, and Cardin Winchester with the black knight pieces." Professor Goodwitch noted, making a few taps and sliding motions on her tablet device as she did so.

"Team CRDL, or Team Cardinal." Ozpin followed her up quickly, too quickly.

"Tch," Professor Goodwitch clicked her tongue quietly. It was an involuntary concession to irritation she didn't want to admit to.

"Am I missing something?"

"Ah, my apologies Professor Uzumaki," Professor Goodwitch said without moving her eyes from the video of the students who were still being run down by the sasori. Holographic Jaune managed to jump over a claw that almost batted him into a nearby boulder. "Your training outside of the kingdom didn't include traditional naming schemes, did it?"

"No?"

"In the four kingdoms, the teams are given names composed of the first letters of the student's first or last names. It can be a challenge to find a suitable name for the teams."

"To combat that, we professors bear the burden equally." Professor Goodwitch explained.

 _Which means the old man took an easy one for himself. Damn._ Naruto realized. Well, it probably wasn't that big a deal. How hard could naming a team be?

"It looks like we are about to add two more teams to our roster." Ozpin pointed one at a time at multiple of the holographic screens displayed in front of them.

Jaune's party of three were converging on the same location as two other parties of two, as well as an individual who looked like she hadn't made a partner yet. The two sisters had paired together and met another pair, a boy, and a girl. It looked like the remaining girl with black hair and a bow was partnerless.

The students communicated in loud yells across a field of grass as they raised their voices loud enough to be heard over the pursuing sasori. A pact was made in the favor of flight over fight. The group of five had appeared to be in a hurry when Naruto first saw them appear on camera, and it soon made sense why.

"That is a big bird," Naruto remarked.

"A nevermore," Ozpin corrected, not unkindly. The headmaster did know his reasons for not being in the know. It had come up during their discussion of terms and reasons for his employment. "Another higher level grimm. This initiation is full of surprises."

Naruto smiles at the appearance of the big bird, or nevermore — they had the most stupid names here — fired a volley of feathers at the students. The five that were targeted succeeded in dodging the feathered salvo and met up with Jaune's contingency. With a few inaudible shouts and nods of heads, the black haired girl transferred to Jaune's group, or more accurately to her newfound partner. The black and white color scheme of the two girls clashed horribly.

He suspected the two girls might as well, judging by the look on Black's face.

With the accord previously struck for the now two parties of four to flee, all that remained was claiming what they'd been tasked to retrieve. The two teams detoured to the shrine to find similarly placed chess pieces to the ones the newly minted Team CRDL had found. The students didn't pay heed to what piece they chose, each pair grabbing the nearest one they could find, with the exception of the pair comprised of an orange haired girl and a black haired boy. The girl went as far back as possible to ensure she picked herself a golden rook.

"Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao-Long, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie. I'll take them." Professor Goodwitch staked her claim.

"What are you going to go with?" Naruto asked.

"I am not sure as of now. None of the four have revealed themselves as a leader yet."

"It is customary for the team leader's letter to start the name," Ozpin explained without being prompted.

Naruto frowned. "We have to use the first letters of their given or family names, make a word out of them, and the leader has to be the first letter?"

"And in Beacon, it should be, or be some component of, a color."

Naruto gave the headmaster a flat look. "Isn't a cardinal a bird?"

"Indeed. However, Cardinal Blue is a color."

Naruto remained unimpressed. He let it go with a sigh and a shrug. If all the students paired off there would be enough for ten teams. With three other professors, he'd be responsible for three at most. It couldn't be that bad.

"I'll be responsible for Jaune's team then. What am I working with?"

Professor Goodwitch perused a document on her scroll tablet. "Jaune Arc and his partner Pyrrha Nikos have taken the golden king piece. Weiss Schnee took the same piece along with her partner Blake Belladonna."

Naruto contemplated the letters and color combinations. Not being his native tongue, he'd learned the language through the brute force of clone learning. He'd need to skim a dictionary to find a color that worked after he determined a leader for their team. At least he could count on not having to find a color that started with Jaune's initials. That was one kid Naruto knew was not cut out for leadership.

 _Probably._ Naruto amended his previous thought. He didn't think the kid had it in him, not at all. Who could say for certain? Maybe Jaune would surprise him. That was the point of being here, wasn't it?

To be surprised.

* * *

Jaune wouldn't say that initiation was going all that well for him. Less than a week ago he'd almost been killed by a beowolf. His immediate present consisted of being pursued by both an armored scorpion and the biggest, angriest bird torn straight from a child's nightmares. Both of the grimm had made it their fondest aspirations to crush, garrote, eviscerate, or maybe other methods of murder Jaune had no doubt they were more than capable of doing.

"Where the heck are we going?!" Jaune shouted as Pyrrha pulled him behind a large tree to cover the both of them from oncoming feathers.

"Away from them!" Weiss shouted back.

Jaune had to concede that away from them was certainly better than towards them. His question was more directed towards where exactly they were going. Even with his not-so-great sense of direction, Jaune knew there was no way this led back to the hill from which they were launched.

He saw Ruby turn into a stream of rose petals as she zipped forward to avoid a falling tree the scorpion had batted towards her. That was probably her semblance. Pyrrha, Weiss, and the other girl probably had semblances too. He might be the only one here without one.

Weiss dodged a swing of the scorpion's claw by jumping into the air. Once the girl was in the air and unable to dodge the scorpion's tail shot forward. Jaune tried to jump up and block the stinger with his shield only to fall back to the ground impotently short of his goal.

Weiss didn't need his help. A shining platform appeared underneath her feet in the air and she jumped off it like it was solid ground. She dodged the attack by only a fraction, the stinger coming so close to her body Jaune thought it grazed her. It hadn't. Another platform burst into existence almost immediately near the first, holding her parallel to the ground. From her newfound vantage, Weiss thrust her weapon at the protruding limb, placing the slender steel right atop the scorpion's armored plates.

The tail erupted into a ice, binding it to several nearby trees. Weiss fell gracefully to the ground and admired her handiwork for a moment before turning to run with them once more.

"That won't hold for long. The deathstalker will either break the ice or uproot the trees. It will buy us a few minutes at most."

Pyrrha and the other girl had the wherewithal to nod their understanding to Weiss. Jaune was flummoxed, completely and totally out of his element. That scorpion/deathstalker almost skewered her. Aura be damned, she would be dead if that had hit her! Yet Weiss had faced it head on, either without fear or with it fully under her control.

Jaune didn't know if he could do that.

He was about to find out.

"Crap!" Jaune swore, sort of.

The four of them were overlooking a misty canyon. In the distance, he saw what was once a bridge. Either time or grimm had ravaged it, for now, it was broken in too many sections to serve its initial purpose. In looking at the bridge he realized they'd lost sight of Ruby and the rest. The big bird still circling overhead suggested they weren't all that far off.

"Do we turn and fight?" The black-haired girl asked.

"What? No!" Jaune rejected the idea immediately.

"I'm not sure we have a choice in the matter." Pyrrha pointed out softly.

Jaune bit his lip at that. The gaps in the bridge were far too great for an ordinary jump to clear them. Maybe the girls had some magical way to jump across, but he didn't.

"Whatever we're doing I advise we decide and execute the decision as quickly as possible."

Jaune was almost puncturing a hole through his lip with the intensity of his bite. He was nervous, afraid, unsure of what to do. If he did nothing then one of the other girls would surely step up and do something. That wasn't some sort of hope on his part, it was a certainty.

But was that what he wanted?

 _Not anymore._ Jaune blinked his tepidness away. Uncertainty left him as his body and mind filled with purpose. If those kung-fu movie gurus were right, the journey of a thousand miles started with the first step. He'd taken a few, now he had to keep putting one foot in front of the other. That meant Jaune Arc had to make a plan.

So he did.

He couldn't speak to it being particularly good, but hey, it was a plan.

* * *

 ** _To continue the earlier thought, it is an awkward stopping place. Right here seems premature to cut the chapter, right? The problem is, the upcoming fight is very, very important to the story. So the choice was to have a 14k word chapter (which I'm sure you all would magnanimously accept), or break here. I have more written, but I don't have close to enough to bridge the fight. So we cut here with the promise of more on the horizon._**

 ** _The old and the young. I'm enjoying writing a story from the perspective of adults and children. Poor Naruto, you're going to have to figure out a color with Jaune, Weiss, Pyrrha, and Blake. Blake is the worst, two B's allow for nothing useful when it comes to color names. What will Team Harem-Bait be named? Find out on the next episode!_**

 ** _I need to eat food now. Wanted to get this up badly enough to spend my lunchbreak editing and posting. Must catch up!_**


	7. Trying

**_Greetings and salutations! Welcome to the totally-a-comedy fanfic, Fox and the Cub! The story where we get to take a break from the more serious topics of OFNT and focus on lighter and more easy to digest fun._**

 ** _*coughs*_**

 ** _This is a tonally heavy chapter. Don't worry about it being too consistent a theme. OFNT is about dealing with pain. F &C is about growth. I know I've said this before. Some of you are probably sick of hearing it. It helps to remind others who either didn't read previous ANs, pat posts, or don't remember._**

 ** _I'm glad I decided to make fighting the deathstalker its own separate chapter... it was thirty odd pages long by itself. Definitely not something I could have squeezed into the last chapter. The length of it combined with how long I take writing action with some work stuff sprinkled in accounted for the delay this time around. My apologies. For now, I'm going to bed as it is 8:30 AM where I'm at and I've yet to sleep. I did not want to delay this chapter past "Sunday night", or rather Sunday before I went to bed._**

 ** _Extra AN at the end for mild character analysis. Can't do too much because I'm almost delirious._**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

 **Trying**

He did have a plan.

That was the reality Jaune had to remind himself of every second as the giant scorpion chased the four of them down.

 _Which is part of my plan._ He reassured himself in a vain effort to calm his frayed nerves. There was something about being chased through a forest by a giant armored murder-scorpion that was mildly disconcerting.

Mildly.

The four of them were out of the forest now, running on a clear field of grass with no way to drop vision from the deathstalker. He'd considered taking cover and trying to wait it out. _Heavily_ considered it. The fact that it would make him look like a coward wasn't even on his list of concerns with that plan. Jaune was much more concerned that any tree, borough, or whatever they could find to hide would be immediately blown over, open, collapsed, or otherwise destroyed. Hiding in a hole was a plan he was all on board with. Doing it without an escape route? Not for a million lien.

"The nevermore!" The black-haired girl shouted a warning as she pointed to the sky.

Jaune didn't know if there were two words in the world he wanted to hear less than the ones she'd said. His hopes that she was having a hallucinatory experience were quickly dashed by the cawing of the giant bird.

His luck the last few days had felt like it was controlled by a volume slider in the hands of some fledgling god torn between being vindictive and benevolent. True to form, it slid back when Yang catapulted out of the canopy towards the nevermore. She didn't reach it, but the blasts fired from the weapon on her wrist made sure its attention stayed fixed on her.

"It appears the other group has a handle on the nevermore," His recently made partner announced calmly.

The nevermore flew around overhead as bullets pelted it like gunfire in the movies. Jaune wanted to punch himself in the face when he realized that was because it was gunfire. These were guns, weapons used to kill things. He wasn't in Ansel anymore. If he screwed up here…

"Watch out!" Weiss shouted.

It wasn't the most effective warning she could have given. The 'what' he should be watching out for was easy enough; that would be the giant scorpion deathstalker thing that was trying to… eat them? He honestly didn't know. How did scorpions eat food? Did grimm scorpions do the same thing?

It was how he should be watching out that would have been more useful to know. The answer to that curiosity was quickly presented. He _should_ have ducked.

He didn't.

The stinger shot forward as fast as any of the bullets he'd seen seconds prior, striking barely left of his face. He didn't dodge. The creature missed, though not entirely. The giant stinger was larger than his entire body twice over. Despite the desperate flare of his aura, a large gash appeared on his cheek.

The blow only grazed him, yet the force of it was still enough to spin him on his feet like a top. His attempt to keep running away from the grimm exacerbated the situation. Pyrrha caught him as he was falling to the ground in a heap of tangled limbs and dragged him forward until he was righted.

"T-thanks!" Jaune gasped out as he accepted her pull on his arm to continue running. Jaune almost repeated his gratitude. He knew his flustered words weren't spoken loud enough to hear over the din of the deathstalker's many legs. The creature had come to a stop. It was only a momentary reprieve as its legs began slowly clicking back into the tempo of their previous rampage.

He was already sprinting away.

"We're almost there." The black-haired girl spoke as they approached the ruins of what had once been a bridge.

 _I really should have asked her name._ Jaune thought. That he was thinking of things that unimportant showed that his mind was out of sorts. Whether that was because of the impact or the grounded triple lutz he didn't know. Hopefully, the plan he'd come up with had been thought of would still make sense to his lucid self.

The act of launching its stinger forward had made the deathstalker cease all momentum. As a result, they arrived about ten seconds before the deathstalker joined them.

The terrain was as he'd seen it all that distance out. He was lucky the forest had broken around here and there was a sort of clearing by the edge of the ravine. There were a few scattered trees, though nowhere near enough to obstruct vision substantially. The bridge that they'd arrived at the mouth of was made to cross the canyon of which he could see no bottom. Stone pillars that may have once been arrayed in opulent sequence now stood scattered without any sense of uniformity. One of them stood more solidly than its brethren.

Exactly as he'd hoped.

"Fight around the pillar!" Weiss ordered. "Whoever it's not focused on will flank it from around the pillar."

Jaune heard his own plan from Weiss' lips. It sounded better a thousandfold when she said it than when he 'd stammered through it minutes ago. That was plan number one. Using the pillar to prevent its movement so they could more easily strike at the grimm. It wasn't much of a plan, that he could admit.

It sounded better than fighting the beast out in the open though.

They all readied their weapons. Jaune's scabbard transformed through the many shifting parts into the shield he'd seen his father use sparingly when he was a child. It was his to use now. It was his because he'd stolen it. He'd do his best to be worthy of it.

Pyrrha was the first to strike. Her javelin turned into a gun and she fired three shots at the deathstalker as is barreled to them. The bullets did nothing to damage the creature as far as he could tell, however it did fix the grimm's attention firmly on her.

The pillar was large, probably ten feet in diameter. While Pyrrha held the line to engage the creature the rest of them backed off behind the pillar. He followed behind Weiss as they snaked around to attack the creature from its flank.

Jaune didn't see the deathstalker's claw meet Pyrrha's shield. He heard it. Loud as the tolling of an old brass bell was the impact of their clash. As Jaune tailed Weiss around the final leg of their loop around the pillar he saw his partner struggling to hold the creature at bay head on. The shield that he'd heard take a blow from the giant claw was now wedging one open to prevent it from crushing her arm.

As soon as he could observe that Weiss was already striking. A magical circle appeared in the air with geometric diagrams in response to a thrust of her rapier. It glowed white with what Jaune could only describe as magical power. From it shot forth a blast of ice. The tail of the deathstalker became encased in a ball of ice, preventing it from stinging any of them.

Despite being behind him, the black-haired girl still beat him to the punch. She did a ten-foot vertical leap and pelleted the deathstalker with bullets. A spray of fully automatic fire peppered its shell with brutal intensity.

Jaune let out a battle cry, inspired by their efforts. He swung his sword down to rend the creature in two.

Crocea Mors harmlessly clanged off the chitinous armor, accomplishing nothing.

It wasn't like anyone else's attacks did anything either. The hammering bullets might as well have been styrofoam breaking against a castle wall. And while there may have been some small solace in the fact that the grimm could not impale him on its stinger anymore, Jaune soon found out it was just as content to bludgeon him to death with its newfound ice-cudgel.

When the deathstalker struck its tail to the ground it did not matter that both Weiss and he had retreated behind cover. The impact creates a blast that sent both of them flying. As he was flung backwards he saw that the black-haired girl managed to avoid the worst of it by remaining airborne. The hang time of her jump had Jaune considering that she could have made more playing or basketball. Was aura allowed in sports?

Thoughts like that were swiftly interrupted by his body smashing against the ground, knocking all the breath out of his body. If that wasn't enough, Jaune found himself coughing as some of the dust that had been smashed up found its way into his lungs. The combination of the two was not conducive to breathing, and the blonde could swear if he coughed any harder a lung would come out.

"Crap…" He croaked. Whenever they flanked the enemy in the movies it always worked perfectly. Life did not seem content to give him such an easy out.

No, not at all. If this was a movie, then life would prove itself to be one bitch of a director.

* * *

 _He could be doing worse._ Kurama remarked as he observed the screen upon which Jaune was fighting with three others against the sasori. _It would take some real effort, but I think he could take a direct hit if he wanted to._

Naruto chuckled at Kurama's dry humor. Neither of them had expected Jaune to avail himself. Kurama had actually lost the first bet that Jaune wouldn't even make it to the pieces. His partner had growled about bad luck being the defining factor. The girl who had chosen him was far above his skill level and was 'the only reason he made it to the initiation relics without tripping and breaking his face'. Naruto chose to politely disagree with his longest standing partner.

Luck was a factor, certainly. To say that was all it was? Naruto found that narrative lacking. Jaune was barely north of totally hopeless. He wasn't functional as a huntsman by a long shot. When they'd met he'd been naught more than a child whining that the world had not made him what he wanted to be. And still, Naruto believed he could be so much more.

What he lacked in charisma he made up for in earnestness. What he lacked in ability he compensated with dreams of what he could be. What he lacked in intelligence he'd have to make for in determination. Jaune was an idiot, so he'd need double the hard work than any of the geniuses around him to get half as far. It was an unfair reality of life that anyone in any line of specialized work had to face eventually. Naruto wasn't sure if the kid could handle it.

Naruto wanted him to. Centuries had not made his heart bleed any less for an underdog trying to compete with the prodigies. Seemed like a bit of a false narrative considering he had Kurama's bullshit power shoved into him at birth, was born from the greatest of ninja stock, and was part of the legacy of what was basically the progenitor of all chakra. Despite how humble his origins had seemed at the time he really had the deck stacked for him to be main character material.

He still considered himself an underdog regardless. Jaune appealed to that part of him.

"I must say that I expected a bit more from the student you recommended," Ozpin remarked timelessly. Naruto could hear the faintest trill of amusement on the immortal's voice.

Amusement he too shared as he rolled his eyes. "I recommend he be a huntsman. I never said he'd be any good at it."

The headmaster joined Naruto with a few short rasps Of polite laughter. What was genuine good humor on Naruto's part seemed more feigned by Ozpin. Perhaps old age and an endless war had made the man bitter. Naruto was no spring chicken, yet he did believe the headmaster even older than he.

A little over three centuries old was Naruto's exact age. It was interesting how easy it was to spot another immortal when you were brought into contact with them. Ozpin was actually quite similar to Orochimaru. Not a flattering comparison for the old man, yet nonetheless accurate.

He was a body hopper. His essence invaded the body of a new host upon his death. It was similar to how Indra and Asura's chakra sought new hosts when theirs' died, except Ozpin was sentient. Naruto couldn't tell if Ozpin had consumed the mind of the current host, or if they'd melded into one being. Either way, he couldn't see a split in the headmaster's personality.

The nature of Ozpin's immortality aside, the knowledge of its existence had served as a potent tool to get himself in the door for an interview. From there it was a simple matter of convincing the headmaster that he was not an agent of Salem. A simple demonstration that he could blow up the entire school ten times over if he deigned to had been sufficient to the task. Nothing quite like someone knowing you could crush them beneath your heel at any moment you desired to make it clear that you did not possess such desires.

It had also given him sufficient bargaining power to ask for what he wanted.

His mandates had been twofold; he would not involve himself in the war in any way aside from training huntsmen and huntresses. Second being Jaune's admission to the school. Ultimately, the latter proved pointless. Jaune had transcripts stating his great experience at a combat school over the course of four years.

That had made Naruto laugh. Jaune? Skilled? _Trained?!_ Ha! He didn't need to look at those transcripts to know they were forged.

Naruto watched the image of Jaune swing at the sasori's tail. His blade clanged off like he'd hit a solid metal beam. Possibly a poor example — Naruto could have cut a skyscraper in half with a sword. Jaune's falling on his ass as the recoil from his own blow sent him staggering firmly indicated he would not be capable of such a feat at present.

Naruto was surprised the idiot could even hold a sword properly.

"We may need to consider intervening," Professor Goodwitch spoke as she watched two fights simultaneously. Ruby, Yang, and two others battled a giant bird on the other screen. Their combination of ranged attacks seemed to be wearing the grimm down steadily, if slowly. That made it obvious which fight she was referring to as if it wasn't clear already. "They do not seem to have the tools to pierce through the deathstalker's armored plates."

Naruto snorted. "They have all they need and then some."

"I think we can agree that having the tools and possessing the knowledge to wield them effectively are entirely different matters." Ozpin chuckled as the ice bludgeon on the sasori's tail shattered from its most recent impact on the ground. The mist and spray of shards it creates blinded Jaune, Weiss, and the other girl temporarily, allowing the sasori to bat him away with a claw and send them hurtling into the ground.

They did not have a soft landing, rolling through the dirt until friction eventually stymied their momentum.

It was embarrassing to watch. Jaune had the not-so-acceptable excuse of having not tried anything his entire life. These girls were supposed to be trained. Why were none of them searching for a weak point? Something that changed the rules of the fight. One of them had some sort of control over ice, possibly dust based. He could think of a hundred ways to use that to beat the stupid thing.

It wasn't really a question. Unlike Jaune, those girls were strong. For this world, at least. Strength made you tackle problems head-on. Flexible and unconventional thinking were the weapons of the weak. If Jaune had ever done anything, it might be a weapon he'd have access to.

Naruto had hoped the idea of using the large pillar to limit the deathstalker's movements would have been exactly that, only to watch as the three repeatedly overextended outside of its protective range. They'd been conservative and safe at first. Barring Weiss' debacle with the frozen mallet she gave the sasori. However, as failures to pierce its defense mounted they resorted to increasingly risky attacks that accomplished just as little as their more conservative ones.

 _Who knows? Maybe he'll figure something out._ Naruto mused with a small smile.

 _You expect that brat to be the one to bail them out?_ Kurama snickered incredulously. From the fox's position on his shoulders, Naruto could feel Kurama's body shake with mirth. _Ten points._

Naruto paused, taking a moment to think. An ongoing game they had to pass the time was to bet points of pride. The winner would gain said points and the loser would lose them. They didn't actually amount to anything, other than pride, that was. Still, losing them was undeniably a bitter experience. And lording them over the other had a sweetness that made it almost intoxicating.

In slow, somewhat hesitant deliberation, Naruto eventually nodded his head.

Kurama's eyes widened in some surprise before returning to their original lidded and slightly weary appearance. _Really?_ He asked in one simple word.

 _What can I say? Something about Jaune makes me think he can get there._

 _I suppose that's true_. Kurama sniffed. _You became strong in your own right. That's all the proof I need that anyone can do it._

Naruto tilted his head to the right and glared his partner down. Kurama grinned, bearing the rows of his razored teeth in the process.

 _Twenty?_ Naruto asked.

 _Your funeral._

* * *

Jaune had gotten his breath knocked out of him exactly once in his life before this day. He'd been climbing on a hill when he was eleven, slipped, then fell about seven feet onto his back. He didn't remember the sensation very vividly, only that it was unpleasant.

If he had any doubts about 'unpleasant' being an accurate way to remember the air being forced out one's body, he was made to abandon them after the fourth time the deathstalker had hammered him into the ground, a tree stump, the ground again, and then the ground once more for good measure.

Unpleasant, though tamer and devoid of profanity than he felt like using at the moment, was an apt descriptor.

Jaune rose reluctantly as his lungs reinflated for the fourth time that day. He staggered, his left leg holding his body aloft as his right leg gave out. His legs hadn't taken a hit, but the repeated bludgeonings left him unsteady on his feet.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha shouted. She was engaged with the deathstalker from the front the same as she'd been since they started. The brunt of the grimm's focus had been on her for the entirety of the fight. She held firm, resolute, and unwavering. He was doing his best impression of a ball being batted away every thirty seconds.

He stumbled as he started running back to the fight. Other than the one time the three of them had been beaten back, the grimm had only connected on him. As magical as his aura was, he could feel it stretching thin as it continued to force his lungs back into action, shield him from scrapes and bruises from impact, and slowly heal the few cuts he'd gotten from his body impacting the sticks and rocks in the ground. That he lived through being beaten into the ground by a claw larger than he was spoke to the power of aura, let alone still being able to fight.

Well, sort of fight. Not that that particular problem had anything to do with aura. His current predicament of being ineffective with his sword had nothing to do with his aura running low and everything to do with having no idea how to use a goddamn sword. He didn't let that stop him. His stumbles steps became a stride which then became a run. He charged at the deathstalker, shield up and sword raises while the other three engaged it.

It felt like running into a war zone in an old military movie. Despite Pyrrha keeping one of the claws occupied and the deathstalker facing her, it swung its other claw sideways to bat Jaune away again as soon as he approached. He slid like he was going for a base, the claw sailing so close to his face that he could feel his hairs brushed by the chitin.

Jaune immediately scrambled to his feet. He stood close to Pyrrha now while the two other girls tried to attack its backside. Weiss struck with her rapier, probing at the breaks in the plating to try and find a hole through the scorpion's armor. She found none

The other girl had abandoned her attempt to shoot the creature and mimicked Weiss in her attempt to find an opening between the plates she could strike. With both attacks failed, the two were forced to retreat behind the pillar to avoid retaliation from the stinger. The deathstalker's tail smashed against the stone, unable to overpower it and not flexible enough to snake around and find its target.

It switched its focus back to Jaune and Pyrrha. His partner had changed her weapon into a spear and was probing at the scorpion's eyes. It didn't blink, flinch, or react in any way. It retaliated, opening its claw and moving to crush Pyrrha between its lightning fast snap. She ducked under it, pushing the claw up with her shield to create a gap she could pass through.

As she pushed towards its head, Weiss and the other girl had resumed their attack from behind. Bullets or swords seemed equally useless against the armor of the creature. With Pyrrha bearing down on it, the deathstalker couldn't devote itself to the defense of its backside. It thrashed, it's other claw moving to crush Pyrrha. Jaune stood in its path, wanting nothing more than to duck.

He met the claw with his shield, his posture crossed between a crouch and a kneel as he dug his feet into the ground. The impact of the blow almost knocked him off his feet and into the air. It would have, easily, if not for the fact that he'd angled his body such that the force pushed him down into the dirt. His heels braced against the ground as they dug up a trough.

He hadn't intentionally taken the blow that way. It was a combination of instinct and blind luck more than any sort of forethought. The fear and force made his legs feel like jelly. Jaune put every last ounce of strength he had into stopping the attack from reaching Pyrrha. When his body came to a grinding halt with half of each foot dug beneath the ground and Pyrrha stabbed out one of its many glowing red eyes, he knew he'd succeeded. They'd finally wounded it.

Until the claw opened, grasped him, and flung him. He was reintroduced to an old friend when his back bent into a 'U' shape around the same tree stump he'd been forcibly acquainted with prior. At that moment Jaune found newfound belief in the idea that absence made the heart grow fonder. He'd met Mr. Stump minutes prior. It was far too soon to meet him again.

"Good to see your relationship with Mrs. Ground continues Mr. Stump. I'll try to stop butting in." Jaune's grumble became a groan as he took stock of the damage he'd suffered. The deathstalker's attempt to separate the two lovers with a Jaune shaped missile had been ineffective. Mr. Stump's relationship with Mrs. Ground was too well rooted.

Aura or not, Jaune felt the damage this time. His back ached. It felt like fire lanced across his back as he crumpled over onto his hands and knees. His legs were having none of his attempts to stand. His lungs were of a similar sentiment towards his desire to breathe.

His body felt like it was breaking, he was in pain, and they were no closer to beating the grimm horror than they'd been when they started. From what he could see the deathstalker's reaction towards the loss of an eye stopped at annoyance. It fought the three girls with the same intensity as it had before. The pillar held strong and they managed to avoid taking damage, but they hadn't accomplished anything either.

 _Should we run?_ Jaune thought furtively as Weiss shot a fireball that went completely ignored by the giant scorpion. It was a valid question in his mind. They were fighting a losing battle. Struggling against it like this wasn't brave — they weren't even doing anything to the deathstalker!

 _You don't get that._ The words echoed in his mind. Jaune didn't know if they were the path to salvation or a siren's call leading him to break across the rocks. His aura was pitifully low, his body was failing him, and his attacks did nothing. If he fought again he very well might die. There was nothing about that he didn't get.

And yet it wasn't enough to stop him from forcing himself to one knee, bracing it with his hands. He used his arms to slowly push off his knee and force his upper body straight. With the strongest of wills, he compelled his disobedient legs to erect fully the structure of his body once more. He was in pain, yes, but not to the point that it compared to the hell on earth he'd been put through on his journey to Beacon. It was not enough to make Jaune turn backwards in his path.

With all the fluidity of an old system of servos, his ligaments pulled his legs into a walk. Step after step he picked up momentum. The idea of running moved further from his mind with each passing stamp of his feet on the ground. Jaune was afraid, not brave. It was fear that gave wings to his feet, not courage.

Yet his wings carried him forward and not back for his fear of becoming the same Jaune Arc he'd always been trumped his fear of the deathstalker. He was to be a huntsman, a hero. He would find a way to succeed. Heroes always did.

Fate disagreed.

When Jaune arrived to reengage Pyrrha had just managed to negotiate around its guard by herself and strike another eye. The annoyance the creature held escalated to rage. Without regard to position or strategy, the deathstalker thrashed about furiously. Jaune jumped back, falling on his ass intentionally to avoid being knocked on it on the deathstalker's terms.

Pyrrha, who had managed to take every blow prior on her shield or… sword? Wait, wasn't her weapon a spear? It certainly wasn't now. Regardless, she'd also chosen to give the scorpion a wide berth, albeit with far more grace in her backstep than he. Fate's rejection came in the form of the hardened club of a claw smacking against the pillar that had served as cover.

The pillar was monolithic — the main reason he'd chosen it as their line of defense.

It was not enough.

With a shuddering quake, the stonework of the pillar began to crumble. The section the deathstalker had demolished cause more cracks and fissures, which led to more of the rock falling loose, which led to the pillar teetering dangerously towards Weiss and her partner.

It wasn't so fast that they didn't have time to react. Not that it would have mattered. The two of them could have possessed the reflexes of a dead cat and the result would have been the same. The deathstalker had gouged out the section closest to it. Physics ensured the two girls need not move a step. They did though, the two of them jumping at the pillar and kicking off of it to speed its descent.

The pillar crashed down upon the deathstalker. Fast as it had shown itself to be, its acceleration was no match. What had to be tons of rock fell upon its body in an avalanche. It was the decisive end to the fight — it had to be. No creature could survive tons of rock crushing its body.

That was probably true, but that was not what happened. What Jaune didn't know was that grimm grew intelligent with age. Knowing it could not avoid the pillar entirely, the deathstalker moved as close to the base as possible. The pillar still fell on it, but on what was essentially its fulcrum.

When the monolith of stone connected with the ground the earth didn't shake so much as quake. The ground fissured, cracks forming in earth as the ground threatened. The sound was deafening. That turn of phrase was something Jaune had always thought of as exaggeration with the intent to illustrate a point. No. It filled his ears, nothing but the sound of cracking earth and destruction echoing and crashing audible throughout the carnage. Trees fell, the earth gave way, and all of them knocked off their feet.

And when it was finally over, dust still obfuscating any and everything within the remote distance of the impact, a ringing sound replaced the din previously occupying all auditory sense. Someone could have clapped five feet behind him and Jaune likely wouldn't have heard it. He might not have noticed it besides that. All his focus was on the scene in front of him. He scanned for the others, hoping to find them without alerting the deathstalker to his presence. Jaune was sure it was dead, there was no reason he should fear.

But fear he did.

"Is everyone alright?!" He heard Pyrrha's voice, the noise in his ears having reduced itself to a high-pitched hum.

"F-fine!" Weiss replied, coughing in the middle.

"Same!" Jaune took his cue from Weiss and answered his partner.

There was silence — or as much of it that could be had in the wake of the devastation. As the dust settled, true quiet returned. There was no third response as Jaune had expected — hoped there would be.

Through the silence, there was a pained whimper.

Jaune — who had been laid on his ass by the tremors half a second before — was dashing towards the source of the sound. Fear, concern, and self-loathing pushing each step to come faster than the one before it. If she wasn't okay? How hurt was she?

Had this happened because he was useless?

He heard the girl before he saw her, the millions of dust particles continuing their dance through the air without signs of tiring. He altered his course a few degrees to the left to match the origin of the sound. He didn't slow his pace when he could finally see her — the dust more of a fine fog than an impenetrable curtain to his vision. He continued running as fast as his legs would carry him, coming to a sliding stop right in front of her…

And the tree pinning her to the ground.

"What happened?" Jaune was dumbfounded. His brain sought clarifications as it lacked the ability to comprehend what was happening.

Her breathing was staggered and short with each breath making her wince. Her hands feebly gripped the large oak over half her body, holding her hostage while her arms failed to muster the strength necessary to push it off. Jaune could see her aura spark and crackle as it tried to heal the damage she'd suffered. It was obvious that she was in pain. He couldn't see any blood, though he knew that didn't mean she wasn't bleeding internally.

"I jumped aw… away," She breathed sharply, her body shuddered. Jaune could see the pain in her eyes as they closed abruptly, as if they needed to fight an internal battle and could not focus on anything outside of it. He knelt down to better hear her. "Couldn't see… a t-tree… couldn't use my aura... in time."

Jaune held a finger to his lips and quietly shushed her. The information combined with his unwillingness to see her put herself through pain to inform him of anything more.

"Hold on. I'll get this thing off you." Jaune promised. She nodded.

The how if it was the question. The tree was large, more important was that it was heavy. Down the line of it, a large stone was splitting the burden of the tree with her. It explained why she wasn't crushed, and also what would happen should he attempt to lift it and fail. If he disrupted its position at all, the oak might roll off the rock and straight onto the girl.

He heard an inhuman screech blast through the air from the distance. Jaune knew he had to hurry.

"If I can lift it off you, do you think you can move?"

She nodded and Jaune returned it. He rose from his kneeling position, looking for the best place to move the log. She was close to the middle of the oak while the rock was several feet down towards the top. Towards his right, he saw that the base of the tree was wrenched from the stump by force. Bent filaments still held stump and tree together near the edge.

Maybe he could sever the tree's connection to the stump to make it easier to move? Jaune moved towards it, then hesitated. Making it easier to move may make it just as likely for it to roll off the rock and onto her. It might be the only way to save her. He didn't know!

"I… I'm going to try and lift it from there," Jaune pointed to the rock supporting the tree before hurriedly moving to it. "It should give you a little room to wiggle yourself out."

 _And if worst comes to worst I have the best chance of setting it back down without crushing you._ He didn't say. He didn't know if she'd be able to get herself out with such little room, and forcing her to try might exacerbate her injuries, making any other attempts more prone to failure. He had to do it this way — he had no choice in his mind.

He couldn't bring himself to try anything riskier.

He heard a bell toll in the distance and recognized in the next instant that it was the sound of Pyrrha's shield. The deathstalker was not out for the count as he'd hoped. He'd wondered why Weiss and Pyrrha hadn't moved to help them. Now he had his answer.

"On three," Jaune said with a hint of impatience in his voice as he morphed his shield and then sheathed his sword. He needed to get back to the fight and help them. "One, two, three!"

Jaune lifted with his knees, arms, back, and anything else he could throw at the tree that might convince it to move. His body buckled under the weight of his thoughts.

 _This is stupid. This tree probably weighs hundreds of pounds. I can't lift this._

Despair gnawed at him as he failed to budge the tree any fraction. The girl saw and started to try and help. Jaune wanted to tell her to stop — to focus on preparing to move when he did lift the tree. He didn't because he doubted his ability to do it without her help.

The wood groaned as it was forced into unwilling motion. That was either very good or very, very bad.

Fate had not been kind to him that day and it did not intend to start now.

They'd succeeded in moving the tree, but only so much as to dislodge it from the rock. It began to turn over, the last bindings that held it to the stump wrenching and snapping themselves lose as it did so. He was not strong enough to lift the tree, let alone catch it in a freefall. Haunting and mocking as they ever were, the same words came back to him as they always did as time froze before his eyes.

 _You don't get that._

He knew! He knew he hadn't gotten it — and apparently still didn't get it! He should have lifted from a different spot. He shouldn't have lifted at all! He should have gotten help, he wasn't enough. He shouldn't be here. Because he was, this girl was going to pay the price.

That phrase sparked something in Jaune. An idea once planted and subsequently forgotten until right now.

 _Never quit on yourself. When you quit on yourself you aren't the only one who pays the price._

Jaune surged forward and grabbed the oak with every ounce of strength he had. He gripped it tight, paying no mind to the bark digging into his skin and tearing it apart. Maybe he could have stopped it with the aura he had left, but that wasn't where he was going to spend it.

Naruto had shown he was strong, impossibly so. The internet had said aura made people stronger too. He didn't beg his aura for his aura to make him stronger, Jaune demanded it. He wasn't going to quit on himself and he wasn't going to let it do it either.

Against the very nature of what Jaune knew to be reality, the tree stopped. It had moved a quarter of an inch closer to the girl before stilling. He saw the agony that extra quarter of an inch caused her and forced all the magic strength he could to his body at once. He recouped the extra quarter of an inch…

And then another.

And then another after that.

A quarter inch at a time he lifted the tree from the ground. Fatigue came upon him almost immediately. Now that he was forcing his aura elsewhere it was no longer able to deal with the damage he'd been dealt. He kept raising the tree as his knees buckled and sweat beaded on his brow. He would not lose to the pain in his fingers or anywhere else.

At two inches he'd done all he could. "Go…" Jaune forces the word out with breath he didn't have to spare.

She kicked and dragged herself out as quickly as possible. Her hands slapped and scraped at the earth, pulling the last bit of her body free from the oak. Jaune didn't tarry a second more than he had to before unceremoniously dropping the tree to the ground. It shook his sense of balance, but after the devastation caused by the pillar he hardly even noticed it.

The control he held of his aura was let go with the tree. It slowly seeped back into his body, returning to the task of healing his wounds. Now he felt aches and pains spreading through his body that he hadn't felt before.

 _It'll have to do._ Jaune thought grumpy as he checked to make sure Crocea Mors was still on his back.

"Are you able to move?" Jaune asked the girl.

She tried to stand up only to grasp her midsection in pain and shake her head. "My legs are fine, it's my l-lungs," She stammered, cursing quietly as soon as she did. "My aura is still high. It should take c-care of it so I can fight... or not. Either way, I'll li… live."

Jaune nodded. The dust that had filled the air was settling slowly but surely. He could hear the sounds of Pyrrha and Weiss fighting not too far in the distance. It sounded closer than it had minutes ago.

"I've got to help them," Jaune said without facing her. His eyes were glued to the distance, dull forms coming into clarity as they looked to be drawing closer to them. "Will you be alright on your own?"

The girl nodded again. Jaune wasn't convinced, not by a longshot. There was nothing he could do for his skepticism. He had to deal with the threat he knew about before handling those he imagined.

"Shoot into the air or something if you need help," Jaune said as he began to move.

"If I need help I'll probably be shooting at something, not into the air."

Jaune wasn't sure if it was the adrenaline, the multiple near-death experiences, or the success born of not giving up that caused him to grin. Lives were at stake. It was no laughing matter. Nonetheless, the dry wit from the girl left him amused while he left her behind.

The tree was soon gone behind him. The air had cleared to the point where he could see about thirty feet in all directions. From what he could tell they'd have full visibility soon. Even if he couldn't see the fight clearly, he could hear it. It had drawn close enough to their doorstep that Jaune hadn't run for a quarter of a minute before needing to catch a flying Weiss torpedoing towards him.

For the umpteenth time that day, Jaune found himself flat on his ass. His arms had wrapped naturally around the tiny girl to insulate her from any damage the fall might cause.

Television must have rotted his brain. That was the only reason Jaune could fathom as to why his mind instantly worried about his hand placement. He almost sighed in relief when he confirmed that his hands were on a flat surface.

Weiss was not so relieved. The girl spun her head to face him, face almost maroon with an emotion he couldn't recognize, yet was undeniably still afraid of.

"Let go of me!" She demanded indignantly. Jaune immediately complied, almost pushing her off his lap to try and avoid any further wrath. She turned to face him head-on with a face that practically had 'tirade' red-stamped on her forehead.

He didn't get a chance to find out what he'd done wrong before he had to put his hands on her again. Leaping up from his seat, he tackled her to the ground. Weiss looked fit to burst as he lay atop her. That was until she saw what he had seen.

The stinger retreated a few feet above their heads having narrowly missed the both of them.

Weiss forgot about whatever had enraged her prior and shoved Jaune off her and to his feet. He immediately followed the act by pulling her up beside him. The dust in the air had settled for the most part. The two of them had almost been turned into shishkebab for their momentary distraction.

"Pyrrha?!" Jaune shouted, his weapon already unsheathed and shield deployed.

"Here!" The huntress called like she was answering roll call. Her voice sounded at least fifty times calmer than his.

The deathstalker was not content to let them converse. It's claw shot out and tried to grab Weiss. She avoided it by doing a ten-foot aerial backflip.

It looked like a freaking special effect!

With the dust finally settling down Jaune was able to make out his partner. She stood facing the front of the deathstalker same as she'd been from the beginning. She hardly looked any worse for wear, ignoring the coat of dust ruddying her somehow still beautiful hair.

"Any chance the pillar almost finished this thing?" Jaune asked hopefully. Maybe it was this active because it had gone into a berserk mode like a boss-monster when you put it into red health.

"Yes, almost," Weiss answered snarkily. "Almost as in a few feet in a different direction and it would be dead. Unfortunately, it's perfectly fine for the most part."

"Darn."

"What about Blake? Is she okay?" Weiss fired back as they avoided the swing of the deathstalker's claw.

Pyrrha immediately capitalized on the action by thrusting her spear — which Jaune wanted to note was now a spear again — at its eyes. Once wounded, twice shy was what his day would sometimes say. Having had two of its eyes gouged by Pyrrha's weapon made the scorpion wary about drawing its focus anywhere else. After its strike, it quickly reoriented itself to face her.

"What about Blake?!" Weiss reiterated impatiently.

"What the heck is a Blake?!"

"My partner!" She replied, blood rushing to her face once more.

Now realizing that Blake was the name of the girl he'd never gotten to getting the name of Jaune was able to understand Weiss' mounting worry. "She's fine."

"Clearly not!" Weiss said as she conjured a magic circle, pointed her rapier, and shot a ball of fire at the scorpion. She grimaced as it washed over its body ineffectively. "If she was fine she'd be here!"

"Alright," Jaune swung his sword at the stinger, hoping he might find its armor weakened from the collapsing pillar. His sword bouncing off as easily as it had before informed him that was a hope much in vain. He lept back before it could retaliate. "Fine was a stretch. She'll be fine, I promise," He assured Weiss when her eyes widened. "Her aura needs to patch her up before she joins up with us."

"Where is she?"

Jaune pointed to where he came from with Crocea Mors without looking over himself. He'd almost died because he'd taken his eyes off the deathstalker to look at Weiss. He was going to have to decline giving it another free shot, thank you very much!

Weiss didn't have such reservations. "She's not there!"

And immediately Jaune didn't have his anymore. His eyes darted towards the tree that had fallen. With the dust clear he easily saw the tree. He didn't see Blake.

"Maybe she retreated to the forest to avoid the fight?" Jaune suggested as he scanned the tree line hoping to confirm that thought.

"Or maybe she's being chased by grimm!"

"She's not," Jaune knew that much. There would have been gunfire if she was, she'd said as much.

"You don't know that!" Weiss retorted.

"A little help when you're able would be great," Pyrrha asked, casually jumping over the deathstalker's claw, landing on it, and then backflipping off before it could fling her.

Jaune moved to fulfill that request. Weiss stopped him, grabbing his shoulder and forcing him to look at her.

"Go and find Blake. Keep her safe while Pyrrha and I handle this."

"Handle this?" Jaune asked incredulously, his temper starting to mount. He knew Blake was safe and he'd told her as much. Why wouldn't she listen?! "If you could handle it without any help it would be handled by now."

Weiss refused to back down. "We had all four of us and we couldn't deal with it. I hardly doubt your sword would make a difference!"

Part of Jaune agreed with that. He'd already contemplated running more than once this fight. Weiss had shot two fireballs at the thing and the deathstalker didn't even notice. His sword couldn't cut through the armored plates, nor did he have Pyrrha's finesse that allowed her to attack it from the front.

But he wasn't running away. Blake was fine and the two of them needed his help.

"Have you figured out a way to get through its shell?" Jaune asked, trying to pull his shoulder alway to face the threat at hand.

Weiss didn't allow him to. She tightened her nails into his shoulder and held him firmly in place. "We will figure it out. Help. My. Partner."

"Look," Jaune growled, losing patience with his first Beacon sort-of friend. "I already told you that Blake is-"

What exactly Blake was never left his lips. His brain ceased all function as it reacted to more important stimuli. A wordless shout from Pyrrha, a small gust of air, the darkening of his vision. His conscious mind couldn't sort out what those meant in that instant.

Still, he felt compelled to raise his shield.

Jaune felt the impact on his arms first. The force quickly overpowered his own meager strength and he was sent sailing through the air. Something white flew through his field of sight.

His hope as he fell to the ground only went as far as to not find himself curled around Mr. Stump again. Finding his fall cushioned by Weiss was far and above his expectations. Her heels dug small tunnels in the ground as she slid back. Unlike what he would have done, Weiss managed to stay standing the entire time as they finally came to a halt well past the treeline. That they'd avoided any trees on the way was amazing enough luck to counterbalance some of the shit he'd been thrown today.

Previous annoyance forgotten, Jaune turned to Weiss with gratitude. "Thanks for the sa-"

"I am sorry for needing to say this," Weiss started, looking not sorry in the slightest. "But evidently you need to hear it; You are a liability. You can't hold the line, you don't deal damage, and you've taken far more if it than any of us. I do not need you, _we_ do not need you. Keep my partner and yourself safe."

Weiss didn't wait for a response. She sprinted off to rejoin the fray as soon as she'd finished. Jaune stood slack-jawed for a moment…

Before all the negativity came rushing back.

He had been a liability. He hadn't accomplished anything. Maybe if he thought of pushing the pillar onto the deathstalker they could have controlled where it was to ensure it was crushed. If he was stronger he could have helped fight. If he was better he wouldn't be this useless.

Jaune stood there silently, fighting a losing battle against his despair.

* * *

"Harsh words from Ms. Schnee," Ozpin remarked. He wasn't amused, nor was he aggravated. It was said in the tone of a simple observation.

"She's not wrong to say them," Naruto admitted. She wasn't completely right either. Most of their best ideas had been from Jaune. She'd been more than content to blast away at it with her jutsu-magic after seeing it had no effect. Most likely she thought that she had a much better chance of escaping with the redhead once she'd secured the safety of her partner and Jaune.

 _Not a bad plan._ Kurama mused, reading Naruto's thoughts as if they were his own.

 _Only because she's too headstrong to see a good plan. If she'd stop and think she could get rid of her 'not bad' plan and trade it out for a better one._ Naruto fumed a little. Part of teaching kids was watching them make all the same stupid mistakes you'd made long ago. Weiss was used to winning on the strength of her semblance and magic. She wasn't thinking creatively as to how she could apply it. Naruto was willing to bet she could come up with all sorts of creative solutions to a proposed problem in a classroom setting.

This wasn't a classroom, though. This was the field of battle and Naruto could see she'd lost her cool.

Speaking of cool — the treatment he was getting from Professor Goodwitch was approaching absolute zero. "We need to help them," Professor Goodwitch stated icily.

Naruto may have found some novelty in someone being irked at him any other time. Decades heaped on decades of coy deference made anything else seem like a treat. Now was not the time for him to appreciate such things. His eyes remained glued to the screen, as did Kurama's.

"They're fine," Naruto replied without looking at her.

"They are clearly not fine." She snapped at him.

It was easy to see the point she was making. While the redhead looked to be in good condition, the rest weren't. Blake had climbed into a tree to remove herself from becoming a potential target. Not a bad idea if you ignored that the lack of communication had turned the squad of three into a squad of two. He made a mental note that she might be the type to have difficulty communicating with others. It was something he'd have to confirm, and if true address.

Such was his duty as a professor.

Most of his concern was towards Jaune. After receiving Weiss' harsh rebuke he stood like a scarecrow presiding over a field. His face was gaunt. His expression demure. Naruto would have worried that the grimm might have attacked him were it not for the two clones he'd dispatched minutes earlier to clear the battleground.

Such obvious destruction would obviously attract more grimm. As much as it might do for them to learn that lesson now, Naruto reasoned they clearly had enough on their plates already.

"With only Ms. Nikos and Ms. Schnee remaining, I do not believe they will be able to defeat the deathstalker."

Ozpin hummed into his closed fist. "Ms. Nikos might be able to defeat the deathstalker if she were to show more of her ability."

"I am aware you were intent on seeing Ms. Nikos become a student of Beacon," Professor Goodwitch sighed. "She can always test again next year if she fails this one. The fact remains that with only two of them-"

"Three," Naruto interrupted her, again without looking. "Four if the other girl manages to get back into fighting condition. All Weiss and Redhead need to do is stall for time."

Professor Goodwitch did not appreciate his contradiction. "I'm uncertain of your connection to Mr. Arc and why you defend him so. The boy is clearly out of sorts after Ms. Schnee's words to him. I can't say he was of much use to them before either."

"He does not seem noteworthy," Ozpin agreed. "Although I'd intended to accept him into the school before you asked, I must confess some curiosity as to why you were as intent as you were on his admission in our interview."

Ahhh yes. That. Naruto had to admit that asking for Jaune's admittance was becoming something of a pain in the ass. Not for him, for the kid. Ozpin's eyes had been glued to the student he'd personally asked to be admitted to the school. He'd only done that because he assumed that Jaune had gotten denied and would need a little inside help to get into Beacon. Naruto couldn't even fault himself for thinking that way.

The kid was ass.

Bad physique, bad swordplay, bad shieldplay, and the list went on. Jaune Arc was someone who people would look at and see no reason as to why he should be a huntsman. The only rationalization as to why someone so weak would want to take on the great dangers of being a huntsman was Jaune's own. He wanted to help others and make something out of himself.

"He's weak," Naruto's words echoed his own thoughts. "Not remarkable in the ways you'd usually look for. Let me tell ya — you shouldn't sell him short. You'll regret it."

"He is not doing anything," Professor Goodwitch pointed out. A needless remark considering Naruto's eyes hadn't left the screen since Weiss had left Jaune.

"For now."

"What makes you think he'll recover?" Ozpin asked. Instead of assuming that Naruto was incompetent, the headmaster assumed that he knew something about Jaune that would give him such faith.

And he did. "He's a loser."

That was not the answer the two of them had expected. Naruto caught their expressions out of the corner of his eye. They were enough to make him smirk. Kurama grinned toothily on his shoulder.

"And what about him being such gives you your certainty?"

Naruto forgot how much he missed talking to someone who knew how to ask reasonable questions.

"Jaune was a loser before I met him. He's a loser now too. The only thing that's different is that he believes he can change that here. A new city, a new school, a new way of life. Nobody knows who he is. More than that, for the first time he knows who _he_ is. He's faced the fact that he's a loser head on."

"You think this will help him?" Professor Goodwitch asked, calmer than she'd been prior. She didn't look to be a hothead, merely a professor who was protective of her students.

"You've obviously never been a loser," Naruto chuckled.

Professor Goodwitch didn't react with a blush or any form of embarrassment. Her eyes did narrow, making her look more cross with him than she'd already been.

"When you're a loser it's all you think about, regardless of which type of loser you are."

"Type?" Ozpin asked. The man sounded more curious about his dichotomy than its pertinence to Jaune.

"Probably more types of losers than I can think of. From what I've seen they all boil down into two neat groups; those desperately trying to escape and those who aren't."

"Jaune spent his life thinking that someone would come along and teach him how to get what he wanted. Don't get me wrong, somebody probably should have rapped him over the head and set him straight, but no one did. I made sure to give him that rap and point him in the right direction."

"And you think that's enough?" Professor Goodwitch asked skeptically.

"Honestly? No clue. Best thing I could think of doing in the two days I had," Naruto shrugged. "I don't want you rushing down there to save him because for all I know this is his last shot. He's thought of himself as a failure and a disappointment for most of his life. I did what I could to get him to focus on what was possible instead of what he was. You going down there and fixing the mess he's in might ruin all that."

"He could recover even if we did," Ozpin said.

Naruto shrugged again. "Maybe. Doesn't make much of a difference — I'm not too inclined to go with Plan B while Plan A is still on the table."

"I'm not certain it is on the table. Mr. Arc has yet to move."

Naruto clicked his tongue. Professor Goodwitch wasn't wrong to doubt. Jaune could easily turn around and run away. It was just as likely that he stood there crippled by indecision until the two girls were victorious or one of his clones was forced to intervene. The smart gamble was the one that Kurama had taken — that Jaune would be useless.

Naruto didn't want to believe it, for both of their sakes. Something about Jaune had made him hitch their wagons together. Like Jaune, Naruto could probably get over the setback of a failure at this moment.

But damn it all if he didn't want a win right now.

* * *

Forest fires don't normally start by dousing a dozen trees in lighter fluid and setting them all ablaze. Sometimes it's a match or cigarette not properly put out, others a hot and dry summer finally pushing what was once a lively plant to become kindling. That small fire — that single fire — grows and consumes everything it can reach.

Despair works the same way. The brilliant light of anything you'd attained could be dragged down into the black sludge of depression. For days, weeks, maybe even years — one's life could be completely submerged in that sludge. Every accomplishment dragged deep into the muck while every failure floated clear and visible to the surface, stirring it into a whirlpool of bubbling tar.

Hope does not work in the same way as despair. Jaune hadn't put much thought into how hope or despair worked, not really. Hope and motivation were things that he thought some people had, some people didn't. Eventually, he'd grow older and get some, or some arbitrary time where they would eventually come to him together. Once they did, he'd surely be productive. He'd train, and learn, and then become the man he'd always wanted to be.

No, motivation didn't work like that. If despair was a black sludge that enveloped everything on its own, hope and motivation were small flames you had to keep above the torpid sea of sorrow for fear of them being snuffed out.

There were some differences between the three. To despair was as simple as giving in. Hoping for a better future might have been hard in the worst of times, that was easy to admit. Most of the time it wasn't that bad. All you had to do was tell yourself that things would get better given enough time. All Jaune had thought he needed to do was endure until his dad would agree to train him.

It never came. There was never a time where his dad decided he was ready to learn. He'd blamed his dad for that when he left home. It was because he never saw it fit to train his son that Jaune then had to go out into the world woefully unprepared. He would find someone else who would teach him to be a huntsman. Then he'd show his dad!

That's what Jaune had told himself.

He didn't let the flame of his hope die out. He was right not to, sort of. Not a day later and Jaune had run into someone who would change his life forever… only it wasn't how he'd expected it to be changed.

Jaune was ready for a teacher to show him how to fight. A mentor that would teach him how to be brave. What he'd been prepared for was someone who could show him how to be a hero. What he'd gotten was someone who made him do pull-ups until his biceps were ready to stage a coup d'etat.

That… that was selling what Naruto had done for him a few inches short. What Naruto had shown him was that although Jaune had kept his hope alive, it was an empty hope. Its flame seemed bright to its bearer, and yet is possessed no warmth. If Jaune was submerged in the sludge, what Naruto had done was not to pull him out of it.

No. Naruto had grabbed his other hand far beneath the surface and pulled it above. It was the hand that would hold the torch of his motivation. When both hands were above the muck, Jaune could feel real warmth from his hope. The light of hope was empty no longer. It now possessed warmth from the torch of his motivation.

" _I can do these push-ups. I can do these crunches. I don't know if I can do these pull-ups, but I'll be damned if I don't try."_

To try no longer meant to attempt and give up when things didn't go his way. Trying meant breaking his will against the problem he faced. Jaune didn't understand all of this, but he understood that last bit well after his time on the road with Naruto. He was still standing, still breathing, and the pain?

There was nothing the deathstalker could do to him that was worse than those pull-ups.

And just like that, the fires of hope and determination that he'd kept above the roil found their kindling. And then, like a forest fire, their flames began to spread through slow and deliberate work. Jaune hadn't magically found his will standing there in the forest. Consistent and persistent effort to try and accomplish the goals he'd set himself over the past week had given hope the smallest crack to squeeze through and find something to light.

"Weiss can do it." Jaune's realization fell off the tip of his tongue like a deadweight. It was an idea born from a time where he'd wanted to make his own weapon because his dad wouldn't give him one. He'd given up within thirty minutes after seeing the materials, setup, and supplies he would need. There was one thing he remembered.

One thing that might beat the deathstalker.

His right foot moved forward and planted itself firmly in the ground. His left foot mimicked the action of the right. One step at a time, Jaune built his momentum.

He had no semblance. His swordplay was abysmal. His shield was basically a board in his hand for all he could figure out what to do with it. He'd need to learn those things in time if he wanted to be a huntsman. For now, what he'd do is focus on what he did know so he could be accepted as a huntsman-in-training.

Jaune took shop of what he had available. He couldn't tell precisely what level his aura was at. He didn't need to — he knew it was low. He didn't know how to use his sword. He'd figure out a plan where that wasn't necessary. He was done focusing on all the things he didn't know how to do that he'd always wished he did. He'd focus on what he could do now.

Jaune cleared the treeline and saw Weiss and Pyrrha still engaged with the deathstalker. It looked like Weiss with all her bravado had not had a way to beat it.

He could admit to a small amount of smug satisfaction that he'd be the one to bring them victory.

* * *

Naruto's grin was the widest it had been in decades as he saw Jaune mouthing words to his teammates on the screen.

Kurama's scowl was the fiercest it had been in the exact same timeframe. For the exact same reason too.

 _Pay up._ Naruto teased his partner.

 _No._

 _You really don't think he came up with a plan to beat the sasori?_

 _No, I'm certain he did. I'm hoping it doesn't work._

Naruto fixed the fox on his shoulder with an exasperated glare. _Kurama…_

 _All I'm saying is that the sasori could kill them before it works._

 _Kurama!_

 _Either the kid dies or I have to deal with you gloating for the next five years. Sacrifices have to be made. Go sasori!_

Naruto would have reproached his partner for what he knew was nothing more than his usual dark humor were it not for Jaune and his team finally moving to action.

Naruto's vision settled back on the screen. _Alright kid, show me what you've got._

* * *

Jaune wanted to go on the record and say that he didn't like this plan.

That it was his own plan really made it his own damn fault.

He ducked the deathstalker's claw swipe by a clear foot. He looked like a complete moron while doing it — his knees bending and his upper body leaning forward to give him extra clearance from the claw-club — but given that he wasn't dead he'd have to count his blessings that looking stupid was the worst of the first attack.

Over the top of the deathstalker's many red eyes, he could see Weiss freezing the back of its carapace from midair. That he was at the vantage to look at the deathstalker's eyes meant that he had taken over Pyrrha's position as the vanguard. It wasn't a job he wanted, oh no, it was the job he had to take for his plan to work.

As soon as Weiss magic finished, the abdomen of the deathstalker was encased in ice. That was his queue. "Thirty!" He shouted.

Weiss fell lithely to the ground and rushed at the deathstalkers tail. It was a dangerous job considering how much free control it had over the thing. Jaune had thought normal scorpions were much more limited in their range of motion. Then again, expecting grimm to follow conventions of normal animals was probably another sign that he was an idiot.

He didn't want Weiss to be put in such a dangerous job. He did need her to be there. Jaune was nowhere near as skilled as Pyrrha. He was going to need all the help he could get if he was going to fill her position.

Pyrrha shot at the grimm from her vantage point atop a pillar near them. Jaune needed her there when the time came. All she could do was provide covering fire with the sword-spear-gun that was her weapon.

As he rolled to avoid the stinger he couldn't find the mental capacity to be exhausted that her spear was now a gun.

"Twenty-three!" Weiss yelled as she stabbed at the underside of the deathstalker. The underbelly of the beast was less armored than the top, though not substantially enough to justify the risk of trying to flip the thing. What it did represent was a biological imperative of the creature that made it overly protective of its more exposed section.

Weiss threatened its backside if it tried to impale him while Pyrrha kept it from turning to attack Weiss toward the right. With that covered all Jaune had to do was poke at its eyes if it tried to turn left to keep its attention focused on him.

Jaune barely avoided being bisected by a claw.

 _Well, that and not dying._ Jaune added as an afterthought. _No big deal._

"Seven!" Pyrrha shouted from her perch. Jaune had initially wanted to avoid her joining the count at all for fear it might pull the deathstalker towards her. They needed that pillar she was posted on for his plan to work.

Jaune started his own count. _Five._ He thought as he ducked the left claw.

 _Three._ He counted as the right smashed down on the ground from above. The grimm hand attacked like that yet. It was frustrated it couldn't hit him.

 _One._

"Weiss!" Jaune shouted. He needn't have. The short girl was already in the air, a magic circle at her back.

A plume of fire shot at the ice on its back. With that, the deathstalker screeched loud enough that the earlier ringing returned to his ears.

"Thirty! Keep it off Weiss!" Jaune shouted. It wasn't as much an order as a reminder to himself. The first thirty seconds of the plan had both his partner and Weiss covering him. Now he had to do it without the pressure on its tail.

Also, the temperature shock had made the deathstalker predictably upset. That was swell.

It went berserk, instantly spinning right to track Weiss. The only way she had to consistently apply heat to it was to keep expending fire dust to fuel her glyphs. It was not magic as he'd thought, rather a combination of semblance and dust.

Pyrrha shot at its exposed eyes the second it turned. Unwilling to lose any more, the deathstalker shied away. It prioritized saving its eyes over the pain of the flames licking at what had previously been a frosty abdomen.

"Twenty-five!" Weiss counted down.

Five seconds was all the time they could buy before the deathstalker came to the same inevitable conclusion Jaune had. If it couldn't turn towards its attackers, it would have to deal with what was in front of it.

The right claw swept in towards him faster than any before it. Jaune had to fall prone to avoid it, leaving him vulnerable on the ground.

"Twenty-two!"

The other claw shot forward, seeking to grab him and squeeze the life from him as quickly as possible. Not able to stand up in time, Jaune leaped forward from the ground into a somersault roll, placing him dangerously close to the claw he'd escaped previously. He honestly had no idea how to do one, resulting in him hitting his head rather hard on the ground to brace his landing. It was a wound he was willing to incur if it meant avoiding the claw.

"Nineteen!"

The right claw swept across the ground to try and funnel him towards the center. With Weiss no longer punishing it for the use of its stinger the deathstalker was free to pigeonhole him into what was basically a shooting range with two claw walls. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the left claw copying the actions of the right claw, creating the alley he expected.

He charged it shield first. The mandibles of the grimm were probably enough to rend flesh from bone, but they were unable to make short work of his shield. The few seconds of confusion as it struggled to reach him with claws and stinger were valuable. They might save him in the home stretch. He could feel the heat from Weiss' flame with how close he was to the grimm.

"Twelve!

The deathstalker wisened up. It ceased its attempts to devour, claw, or impale him and pushed him backwards. It was the right call on its part. Jaune stumbled, the creature far more powerful than he was. Pyrrha shouted something — a warning perhaps. Since it wasn't the time, his brain filed it as inconsequential.

He could not allow his concentration to be divided.

He'd focused on what he could do up to this point. Capability and planning had composed the first and second act of his scheme. Now it all came down to if he could endure these next twelve seconds to see if he'd make it through the third and final.

With his stumbling backstep, the deathstalker was able to bash him with a claw. Had it moved to grab him he could have tried to angle his momentum right or left, but even if he had the footing to propel himself back, the deathstalker could turn towards Weiss using the carapace on its claws as over for its eyes and abdomen. If the heat was let up for any amount of time the plan could be ruined.

He had to take this hit, so all he could do was make it a hit he could get up from.

Jaune angled the bottom of his shield upwards. When the deathstalker's claw smashed into it, some of the power was lost as it glanced slightly upward. It wasn't much, maybe not even worth mentioning to some. To Jaune, it was the difference between his tired bones breaking and merely being sent on his ass.

"Nine!"

 _Only three seconds?!_ His brain cried in rebellion. Jaune silenced the dissident thoughts immediately to focus on scrambling to his feet as the left claw moved to smack him into the ground. Not wanting to risk him escaping and dodging as he had at the beginning of their fight, the deathstalker had decided to pummel him with large sweeping strikes he couldn't avoid with his ruined stance and haphazard footing that started with its charging push.

He'd taken the first hit. Now he had to take the second one.

His stance to take the blow was sloppier than it had been the first time. The result was his head cracking painfully into the ground. His vision went white, not that it changed anything. He assumed the stance to block the right again. Jaune thought he could hear covering fire from Pyrrha's gun. She was probably trying to shoot at the underside near its stinger to discourage it from stinging.

Jaune's vision returned in time to see the third blow ringing his shield the same Pyrrha's had been done several times before. How was she still standing? Why was he so weak? He was much more curious about the first question and if it was something he could replicate in this exact moment.

"Five!"

Jaune began to wonder if grimm could count. It was much more likely the flame had finally heated the carapace as he'd expected The speed of the deathstalker's blows intensified, already swinging towards him before he could retake his position. It wanted to fell Jaune before it found itself the one being slain.

 _I can't._ The simple thought blackened Jaune's mind as his legs refused to rise. The sludge bubbled once more as hope and motivation failed him.

 _I can._ The fire of his determination burned bright in defiance against his despair.

He pushed himself up to something that was barely a kneel. The blow from the deathstalker sent him flat on his back. That was alright. That was his plan.

He'd learned from the earlier experiences fighting it. By angling his shield up he channeled the force of the blow downward. It hurt, oh gods it hurt. Pain wasn't enough to make Jaune give up. He wasn't a stranger to pain anymore. As long as he took the hit in a way that he could get up, he'd muscle through any hurt this oversized scorpion could throw at him.

"Three!"

He couldn't even get himself to kneel before the next blow was hurling towards him. All he could manage to do was sit up and raise his shield. The blow blew him on his back and he smacked his head hard enough that there was no way he'd take another.

 _I… have… to…_ Jaune refused failure as it knocked on his door. He'd accepted that his dreams could be accomplished later for far too long. He'd expected something would swoop in and change his life for him. Nothing would. Change started with him. What better time to make a change than on death's door?

He couldn't deal the hits. Weiss had said as much. So he'd take them. He wouldn't focus on what he couldn't do. He'd spend all his energy taking this hit, then whatever he had leftover he'd spend taking the next, and the one after that. He'd keep this stupid bug on him so that those who could hurt it could do just that.

"Pyrrha!" Weiss shouted from somewhere very far away. The only thing close to Jaune was the deathstalker. It knew he was on the ropes and was going for the kill.

That damned tail shot at him like a bolt of lightning. Jaune wasn't even sure if his shield would hold. For all he knew the deathstalker's tail would pierce right through it and that would be that. Aura was a distant memory with how far spent he was. It was either his shield or avoiding the hit.

His legs weren't big fans of the second one, which meant it was full steam ahead with Plan A.

A staircase of Weiss' glyph magic led from Pyrrha's pillar to the deathstalker. His partner bolted forward far faster than the stinger. He wondered if she could have made those straight into the air for Pyrrha to run on. If she could, it would have made this whole facing it along thing a little pointless. He'd needed Pyrrha on that pillar so she could get momentum for one decisive strike.

Time was a little slow as Jaune faced what looked like certain death. He wanted to believe in himself and his shield… only he was so damn tired. He didn't drop his guard. If this was how he went out, so be it. Nothing he could do about it now. He'd rather people remember that he died doing something he'd spent his whole life avoiding.

Trying.

Jaune had to admit to a little cowardice at the end. He closed his eyes at the stinger drew closer. Either he survived or he didn't — looking at it wasn't going to change anything.

He heard the clang of metal on carapace close to him, followed by the sound of shattering armor. He mustered a single syllable chuckle. It had worked.

Thermal shock was something to avoid when making a weapon or any other type of metalsmithing. Changing something from hot to cold or vice versa could create fault cracks in your metal that would invariably lead to its destruction. They'd beaten the deathstalker because of some stupid notion he'd had about making his own weapon as a kid.

What a world.

It took Jaune a few seconds to realize he was not in agony. He'd assumed that was because he was dead. The problem with that theory was that he didn't feel very dead.

Mustering his courage, Jaune opened his eyes.

"This makes us even," A girl's voice said before his eyes could adjust.

Blake stood half a foot in front of him, sword in hand holding the stinger in a deadlock. Further down the line, Pyrrha was atop the deathstalker with her spear lodged deep in its abdomen. Weiss remained further back, looking almost half as spent as he imagined he looked.

Which was to say she looked a wreck.

"That works," Jaune said, trying to wave an imaginary white flag in his hands. It would have required his arms to move, a task which they were utterly unwilling to lend their compliance to.

The red eyes of the deathstalker had dulled in hue. Whatever Pyrrha had stabbed had been enough to end its life quickly. Jaune… was grateful for that. Murdering psychopathic monster it had been, and still, he'd learned a lot from it.

He'd miss that evil scorpion.

… _No, I won't. Did I really think that? Was that a thought that ran through my brain?_ Jaune asked himself incredulously. Whether it was the battle-high, adrenaline rush, or pure euphoria from knowing he didn't have to move immediately that caused him to go batshit crazy he did not know.

They'd done it. They'd won.

It felt absolutely incredible.

"You are insane!" Weiss admonished him. The look in her eyes made him want to turn tail and run. Unfortunately, that involved running, and again… legs.

"It worked?" Jaune offered. They were all alive, after all. Mission fricking accomplished in his eyes.

"Only because I held my semblance for such an ungodly length of time, and then only because you barely managed to keep its attention, _and_ only because it was too stupid to sacrifice its eyes to stop us, **and** -"

"I get it, I get it," Jaune managed to hold up his hands in surrender this time. His body had enough strength in reserve to get Weiss to stop complaining at him. Had she always been like this? Jaune could have sworn she was charming and elegant yesterday.

"You obviously _don't_ get it or we wouldn't be here! That was the most reckless-"

"I think what Weiss is trying to say is 'thank you'." Pyrrha interrupted her. Weiss looked flummoxed that Pyrrha would suggest anything sharing the same stratosphere with that statement. Blake hid a tiny smile in her hand as she pretended to cough.

Satisfied that the grimm was actually dead, Blake sheathed her weapon and let the stinger fall harmlessly to the ground. The deathstalker's body had started to disappear. Jaune wasn't ready for a trek back to Beacon. He was ready for mandatory nap time, effective immediately.

"What the hell happened here?" A girl's voice he thought he recognized sounded behind him.

His body was basically jelly at this point. When he attempted to turn and look, he fell straight onto his back. He couldn't be bothered to spend what little energy he had left correcting that, not to mention the grass feeling nice beneath his skin.

So he tilted his head back in the grass and moved his eyes to compensate. Again, he probably looked like an idiot. Again, he was far past the point of giving a shit.

Yang looked at him like he was an unidentified alien. That was probably fair on her part. If he looked half as bad as he felt the grim reaper was probably floating beside him.

"We killed the giant scorpion," Jaune replied. _Probably should have called it deathstalker. Tired, screw it._

"We killed the nevermore!" Ruby chirped excitedly.

Yang ran her hands down her body, showing that her clothing was still in immaculate condition. A glance at his own revealed it torn in more places than he could count, smeared with blood, dirt, and mud. Since there was no water he assumed this 'mud' was dirt that had absorbed enough blood to become such.

That should have grossed him out. He and everyone looking at him knew why it didn't.

"W-well," Weiss stammered, a bit disarmed by what Jaune observed was a few splashes of dirt smattering her own pristine white clothing. "The deathstalker was certainly a more challenging foe!"

Now that was something that Weiss and he could agree on.

Even if Yang, Ruby, and the other girl noisily didn't.

* * *

 _ **I am very pleased with how this chapter panned out. Some may not like it, but I think it's one of my better chapters across both works. I feel Jaune's plight is more relatable to the everyman than an immortal Naruto. I kept Naruto in this fic as both a mentor and because there are parts of immortality that fascinate me personally that I wanted to explore in this fic that I'm not able to do in OFNT. I'm done with immortal Naruto after this, though. I'm probably done writing this genre if I manage to make it through these two stories.**_

 _ **Jaune is interesting to me. The show doesn't give us much, but it leaves a lot to be likely inferrable. You don't get to be as useless as Jaune is without being self-deprecating, or raised with a silver spoon in your mouth at all times. He's not haughty enough to be a Schnee, yet he clearly lacks the self-confidence of a normal person. Going off that, I'm inclined to believe Jaune is the son that failed to live up to expectations. He had to run away from home to be a huntsman, yet we're never shown any talent (other than dancing. I see you typing in those comments that he can dance, stop that.) that would indicate he had some sort of career path pushed by his parents that he wanted to give up in order to become a huntsman. I find it more likely Jaune was just a kid with no direction.**_

 _ **Let Jaune be a lesson to all of you putting off your dreams for tomorrow. You're not going to get what you want out of life immediately. Sometimes you're going to fall and a deathstalker is going to bludgeon you within an inch if your life. Oh well. Get up, put your guard up, and be ready to take the next hit better than the last while you keep on moving to where you wanna be. Not being who you want to be is a necessary part of growing — it's you recognizing a problem. Stagnation and excuses are what keep you in the muck.**_

 _ **Best of luck, readers!**_


	8. Teams are Hard

_**Greetings and salutations! Welcome to chapter eight of Fox and the Cub. We've finally reached the part of the story where Naruto and Jaune will share the spotlight a little more equally. It would have been earlier if it wasn't for that pesky little thing called character development. Drats!**_

 _ **For those of you who want more of this story, my patrons have chosen an extra chapter of this as a reward. It'll be posted there as soon as I get it done. They also have the first half of the next chapter of OFNT. Haven't posted that here because I don't think it reads great as a standalone, so it's going to be a forty-page mega-chapter.**_

 _ **That being said, let's get to the good stuff!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

 **Teams are Hard**

There was something cruel and vindictive about the way Beacon did things. Naruto had been borderline psychopathic with his training — that was undeniable — but once they finished for the day he was sane enough to let Jaune relax and regroup for whatever the next challenge might be. Beacon seemed to have missed that very basic memo on human decency.

Immediately after making it back from their exam in the forest, golden king chess piece in hand, Jaune and his new partner Pyrrha were whisked into some sort of ceremonious room. The ceilings were far too tall, the stage had multiple steps leading up to it, and the audience consisted of enough students to make Jaune think the whole of Beacon had to be here.

And there he stood in a torn hoodie, tarnished with blood that he hadn't been able to get out in the three minutes he'd been given to 'go to the restroom' which entirely consisted of him realizing that water was not sufficient for the task of removing crusty blood. He looked… presentable would have certainly been a bit much to say. Better than before? He thought so.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like that was a universal opinion.

"You still look terrible," Weiss commented matter-of-factly upon his return from the washroom.

Blake was standing beside her and gave him a look when Weiss said that. He had no idea if it was a good look or a bad look, only that it was a look. Pyrrha was nearby, though clearly distanced from Weiss by making sure Blake separated the two of them and even then giving another three feet of clearance from the black-haired girl.

His partner's expression soured at Weiss' words for a second before returning to a muted smile.

"S-sorry," Jaune replied. The adrenaline from his near-death experience had worn off, and his prior confidence had left with it. Seven sisters had rendered him almost totally subservient to commanding members of the opposite sex.

Weiss huffed. "I'll make an exception this time on account of how hard you fought. Know that I will not tolerate slobbishness as leader of our team."

Jaune was exhausted from fighting the deathstalker. Knowing that, it was entirely possible he was missing something or was short some detail that prevented him from comprehending what Weiss was saying. Still, after moments spent pondering, he couldn't figure it out. "Our team?" He asked reluctantly.

"The chess pieces," Weiss answered simply. "Different pieces, a pair of each present. Partnership may have been formed by something as ludicrous as eye-contact, but I am willing to bet teams will be based on the pieces we picked.

Jaune supposed that made sense. He'd kind of thought that the pieces were there as symbols of accomplishment. If you managed to get one, they'd then pair you off with some other group of two that rounded out your team. If it was entirely random, you might get a team of people who shot guns as their main attack. It seemed reasonable — their impromptu team had benefited from having someone to bear the brunt of the stupid scorpion's attacks.

Then again, a reasonable school wouldn't have had him fight to the death and then parade him into what appeared to be a formal event looking like a pack of beowolves had used him as a communal chew toy. Going off the assumption of what a reasonable school would do might not cut it for Beacon.

"So, the four of us on a team," Jaune wasn't against the idea. They'd managed to take out something way stronger than a beowolf together. Something he'd failed to handle on his own one week prior. All of them seemed strong, maybe too much so. That wasn't a bad thing in his eyes. He'd expected to be at the bottom of the totem pole with his abilities.

His entire team being better than him wouldn't be a problem. His entire team being female on the other hand?

 _Crap…_

A brief shot of microphone feedback through the auditorium's speakers serves as adequate notice that something is happening. Sure enough, the sound announces the headmaster as he walks calmly onto the stage. Something tickles Jaune's brain as he does so — a strange connection he didn't expect to be making.

 _He walks kind of like Naruto._

The headmaster doesn't approach a podium, microphone, or a stand of any sort. He moved towards the middle of the stage where he stood front and center for the entire crowd to see. The man paused, giving time for any chatter in the room to cease and any unfocused eyes to find their way to him.

It didn't take more than a few seconds.

"To all of our sophomores and above, I want to welcome you back to Beacon Academy," Ozpin started. His voice was magnified by the speaker system that was no doubt built into the auditorium somehow. Jaune still couldn't make out where the microphone was.

"I hope that you enjoyed your summer leisure if you chose to take it. Of those of you that didn't, I know all of your missions have been both safe and successful. I hope you will continue to extol those virtues in the coming year."

There was a solitary whoop from a feminine voice, followed almost immediately by a small scuffle.

"Thank you, Miss Adele. Today we are gathered to celebrate the successful initiation of our newest huntsmen and huntresses," Ozpin turned his head from the crowd to the reasonably long line of people that had formed around the wall where he stood with his potential team. "All of the first years present have succeeded at their initiation. Moving forward, all of you will be assigned into teams of four based on the pieces that you recovered in the Emerald Forest."

Weiss smirked.

"When I call your names, please approach the stage to be presented with your team name, have your leader assigned to you, and be honored by your seniors for your first accomplishment at Beacon."

Ozpin paused for a fraction of a second to breathe before continuing. "Jonathan Green," Four pictures appeared on a large holographic screen above the headmaster's head. A group of four — two guys and two girls — used the open part of the walkway to make their way from behind Jaune towards the stage. "Zayn Malik, Feddeus Bartley, and Alleria White; the four of you claimed the white pawn pieces and henceforth will be known as Team JZBY, or Team Jazzberry. You will be led by Feddeus Bartley. I wish you all the best of luck here at Beacon."

The name and abbreviation for the first team were put up on the display next to their pictures as the four of them vacated the stage to applause from the audience and headmaster. Almost as soon as they'd cleared the stage, Ozpin's voice sounded again.

"Would Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao-Long, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie please step forward."

They made their way to the stage, starting even further behind him than the first team. Ruby looked ready to bolt to the stage at any moment as her excitement was clearly bubbling over in an incredibly infectious way. She was all smiles and giggles as she passed, waving at him rapidly and beaming. Yang gave him a single wave of acknowledgement with her left hand. Her right was poised to grab onto Ruby's hood and yank her back if she even thought about running to the stage.

Jaune didn't know the other two, nor did they acknowledge him. The boy with a pink strand in his hair adopted a similar posture to Yang as he seemed fully prepared to control his partner, an orange-haired girl whose grin was wide enough to split her face in two.

"The four of you claimed the golden rook pieces. Henceforth, you shall be known as team RRYN, or Team Rain, led by Ruby Rose."

Jaune could see Yang stabilizing her now unsteady sister. Jaune smiled as the auditorium sounded another applause for the next team to be named. Ruby had been nothing but nice to him even after he'd made a complete fool of himself. He was sure she'd lead her team with the same kindness she'd shown him. If they had any problems, Jaune also trusted Yang to beat anything and anyone to death that caused her sister grief.

"Next," Ozpin spoke, his amplified voice filling the hall once more as RRYN walked off the elevated stage. Ruby hopped down the stairs, skipping and giving him a high-five. "Jaune Arc," Ruby mouthed a silent wish of luck his way as his jellied legs struggled to move. "Pyrrha Nikos, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna."

Like Yang, Pyrrha placed a hand on his back. Part of him was annoyed that he needed the help to force himself onward, but that was only a part. More than anything Jaune was excited.

He'd done it! Jaune could hardly believe that he'd somehow managed to get into Beacon with completely fake transcripts. Then the part of Jaune that doubted himself — arguably his more sane side — was sure he'd fail in initiation. Again, he hadn't. He'd passed. He, Jaune Arc, had made it.

"The four of you collected the golden king pieces. Henceforth, the four of you shall be given a special moniker," Jaune blinked at that and immediately became nervous. Had they messed up? "As a nod to the culture of our newest teacher at Beacon, Professor Uzumaki, you will not be receiving a standard name."

Jaune didn't know how he did it. Really, no explanation came to mind as to how his eyes found Naruto immediately in a space filled with hundreds of people. The blond stood with his back to the wall in the opposite side of the auditorium. Kurama was draped lazily over his shoulders as Jaune had found was more often than not the case. Naruto's eyes caught his own shortly after he'd managed to find him.

That the professor offered a sympathetic shrug while silent laughter shook Kurama's body was not a good sign.

"The four of you will henceforth be named in the manner of Professor Uzumaki's home. The four of you," Ozpin repeated. "Will be known as Team One."

Jaune's eyes had gravitated back towards the headmaster once he resumed speaking. Now they darted back to Naruto, a man who held his forehead in his palm as he massaged his eyes in exasperation.

There was a murmuring through the crowd that had been ignited by the headmaster's announcement. Whether they were Team Red, Team Blue, Team One, or Team Fifty didn't make a difference to Jaune. What he didn't understand was why he seemed to be the only one who felt that way. Ignoring the crowd, even the other members of his own team were whispering to one another.

"Team One?" Pyrrha asked him quietly. They were probably six feet from the headmaster, making any type of conversation something they should probably save for another time. His partner disagreed. "That's against the color revolution."

"The what?"

"The war fought eighty years ago?" Blake asked him in what she obviously hoped was a rhetorical question.

"Yeah, the great war," Jaune nodded. "What does that have to do with color, though?"

"Are you being intentionally dense?!" Weiss hissed at him as quietly as her temper would allow.

"Errr… No?"

"That makes it worse!"

"A few of the kingdoms made the decision to ban art as a form of individual expression," Pyrrha interjected most helpfully. "Many protested by naming their children after colors in a demonstration of non-compliance. Beacon has named all their teams after colors for a long time both as a show of solidarity and as a reminder of what the war was fought for."

Jaune almost said that it wasn't serving as much of a reminder if he didn't even know about it. He didn't. And it wasn't fear of Weiss biting his head off that stopped him, though there was a fair bit of that. The whole stadium was still whispering back and forth thirty seconds after the headmaster's declaration. Whether he'd known about it or not, the color names had done their job as a reminder if breaking form caused this much of an outburst.

"Now, now," Ozpin's magnified voice cut through the chatter. "To some of you, this seems like a great change. However, it's important to remember why we name our teams at Beacon as we do. We name our teams after colors because-"

If how easily she fought the deathstalker head-on wasn't enough to convince him that his partner was amazing, the headmaster almost repeating what she'd just said was.

"As such, it is important to remember that we name our teams to show unity. We name our teams to show that regardless of the forces that conspire against us, we have and always will remain unified. Now that we've welcomed a new professor to this school, it's important that we keep an open mind to his culture and different way of life. Regardless of how we all differ, all of our paths have led us here."

That made sense to Jaune. The color names were to show support and so was Team One. It wasn't all that different as far as motives go. It really made a perfect amount of sense to him.

So why was Naruto slowly and repeatedly banging his head against the wall?

* * *

*about an hour ago*

"It's tragic… truly tragic," Port dabbed the corner of his eye with a white handkerchief he pulled from his breast pocket. "Those lasses and lad would have made a fine team. It's simply tragic they had to meet their end this way."

Naruto was seated in the staff room. For all of Beacon's decadence, the staff room was contrastingly plain. Cheap wooden chairs, cheap wooden table, cheap coffee table, and a cheap snack/refreshment area with an old and overused coffee maker standing vigil for the various sweeteners and creamers surrounding it. To Naruto, the place had the same sort of simple charm his new room did. All of the male professors had come here for a short break before the initiation ceremony took place. Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch were absent from their gathering, likely preparing everything for said event.

"They're… not dead?" Naruto's voice had the quality of a question to it. He was sure, nay, positive that Jaune and his team was still alive. He'd watched them climb up the sloping path from the Emerald Forest to Beacon with chess pieces in hand. He knew they were mostly fine and yet Port's concern was so genuine that Naruto was almost convinced he was wrong.

"They will be if you can't find a name for them!" Port despaired. "The color names are a holy tradition of Beacon Academy. If you can't find a suitable name for then there is no road left for young Team No-Name than expulsion!"

Naruto couldn't see Professor Oobleck's eyes through the tint of his glasses, but if he could he imagined the green-haired professor would be rolling them. "While Peter may be exaggerating, it is important for us to find a proper name for them."

Naruto grunted. It wasn't a lack of effort that was stopping him from finding a name for the team. It was a lack of options. Any potential name he could come up with was for had been rejected for the same reason. Jade Rosin? No 'b'. Jasmine? No 'b'. Jasper? No 'b'.

It didn't stop there. He'd thought of doing a slanted word like almond. He'd seen many people pronounce the word awe-mond. Except, guess what? No 'b'. Whoever the parents of Blake Belladonna were, Naruto cursed them.

Those four ideas and five dozen more were scribbled and crossed out on various pieces of paper strewn across the break room desk in front of him. A dictionary lay lifelessly on his right, pushed to the side and forsaken when it would not provide him with the answers he sought.

It was over. It was done. Naruto Uzumaki had been bested. The task of naming a team of seventeen-year-olds had proven too much for him. He yielded.

"Now that won't do," An elderly voice Naruto was learning to recognize roused him from his dread. It turned out it was only Professor Goodwitch who had things to do before the naming ceremony. "To have our newest professor so morose before our ceremony would not set a positive standard for our new students."

"You should have thought about that before coming up with the most ridiculous naming standard imaginable."

Ozpin chuckled. "I will admit that it takes some getting used to."

Naruto didn't have a response for that other than to slump back into the chair, hanging his neck over the top. It was short-lived as Ozpin's arrival did remind him of something. "Did you manage to get to that thing I asked you about?"

"About your first class?" Ozpin asked. Naruto nodded. "I made sure the students involved received proper notification. Assuming you've made all the preparations on your end then there should be no issues."

"And the supplies I requested?"

Ozpin smirked. "I'm boundlessly curious as to why you requested two wheelbarrows along with such a generous amount of sod."

"Stay curious."

"It's poor form to leave your boss in suspense," Ozpin verbally prodded him. When Naruto refused to spill the beans the headmaster relented with a sigh. "They too have been prepared."

Naruto nodded. "At least that's one thing I've gotten handled, unlike this stupid name."

"Give it time and a few years of practice and you'll find that they come easier than you'll expect them to."

Before Naruto could argue the point, Professor Oobleck did it for him. "Experience may not be Professor Uzumaki's problem in this case," The green-haired man said as he glanced over the various papers scattered in front of Naruto. "It looks like the first hand you've been dealt at Beacon is a bad one."

"Truly?" Ozpin asked in surprise.

Port's shock was also there, except magnified tenfold. "Good god! If Bart's saying it then it's all hands on deck!"

Port yanked a chair out from the breakroom table and seated himself with noisy aplomb. Oobleck joined the two of them, albeit more quietly than his mustached colleague.

"Then I'll be joining as well," Ozpin smiled genially as he took a seat across from the three of them. "There's less than an hour before we'll need this name. I'm sure we'll come up with something between the four of us."

Naruto's shoulders sagged with relief. His newfound comrades at his side, he surged towards the dictionary and reopened it to the 'A' section. The three of them had far more experience than he did with this insane naming method. Surely the four of them would find something.

Forty-five minutes later, Naruto knew he was a fool to be so hopeful.

"Ha ha! I've got it!" Port declared triumphantly. "Team Jasmine!"

"What about the 'b'?" Naruto asked Port for what felt the hundredth time.

"Pah! It's one of those foreign words anyway. There's probably a silent 'b' in there somewhere. Even if there wasn't, it's not like anybody would know."

Ozpin shook his head. "I do believe Ms. Belladonna is from Menagerie; the country responsible for producing most of Remnant's jasmine. Our other student's literary skills aside, I am quite certain _she_ would notice."

"A human from Menagerie?" Port was visibly intrigued. "Don't see that very often."

"No, no. She keeps her cat ears hidden underneath her bow."

"And the world makes sense again."

"Absolutizing isn't a color. Team Ambivalences? No no no. Abjectness isn't a color either-"

"Nor would we want our students to take on the name Team No-Dignity."

"Analyzables? Not a color." Professor Oobleck continued murmuring to himself.

"We've got five bloody minutes before we have to have a name, good or not. If anyone's come up with something better than my silent 'b', now's the time."

The complete soundlessness, save for Professor Oobleck's muttering and the hiss of the freshly brewed pot of coffee, said it all.

Naruto added to the sound by groaning into the table, but only after he'd dropped his head on it hard enough to shake some of the now more numerous loose papers to the ground. "I don't care why you chose this color name theme. It's idiotic. We never had to worry about naming teams back where I came from."

"Hmm…" Ozpin hummed into his cup of freshly poured coffee. "And how was that?"

"We assigned a team a number and called it a day."

"That seems to be a bit lacking," Professor Oobleck frowned, snapping out of his deep-think. "I'd liken it to equivocating your teams to disposable forces."

"It wasn't like that when I went through it. You'd see teams who'd been together for years settle down and have their own families. Eventually, they'd get their children grouped together and pass on their number. Hell, even I passed mine onto my son's team."

"A system imposed to serialize huntsmen is given deeper meaning by those who participate in it. Fascinating!"

Naruto was going to deny it but stopped himself. He didn't actually know why they'd started the number system in the first place. Actually, when he considered how many wars were fought before his generation, the serialization system as Professor Oobleck had put it made sense. Maybe it had happened the way the professor hypothesized.

"Solidarity… culture… colors…" Ozpin softly spoke scattered, unconnected words under his breath. "Hmmm… that could work."

Naruto had no idea what idea Ozpin had come up with. At that moment if it got him out of naming Jaune's stupid team, he didn't care either.

* * *

"Now that we've welcomed a new professor to this school, it's important that we keep an open mind to his culture and different way of life. Regardless of how we all differ, all of our paths have led us here."

 _I was wrong. Kill me now._ Naruto begged his partner.

Kurama's face split into a grin to his right. As usual, the fox's entire body was miniaturized and wrapped around his shoulders. _You've got a few centuries to go before I give you an out like that. Besides, this is all your fault. You were the one to bring up numbered teams because you thought the colors were stupid. You got your wish._

Naruto fumed, unable to find anything that could be mistaken for rational ground to argue from. Bringing numbered teams to Beacon was something he couldn't care less about. It was Ozpin's grandstanding about unity and other bullshit to justify it while knowing it was only because they couldn't figure out a stupid color name that had a stupid 'b' in it!

Naruto restrained making any noise during the presentation by quietly bashing his head against the wall he'd been leaning against. Standing on the far right aisle near all the auditorium seats. He was the only professor to show up to the event, the rest choosing to prepare for tomorrow's classes. Having already set up both his normal classroom assigned by Ozpin and his special classroom, Naruto figured he should show up for his first initiation as a professor.

He was now regretting that worthless sentiment.

"With that in mind, let us all welcome Professor Uzumaki to Beacon Academy."

Naruto had heard the notion that sometimes people wanted to kill their boss. Prior to today, he'd never understood that. Then again, Tsunade was probably the closest thing to an employer he'd had. The plights of workers annoyed to the point of murder by their bosses was one he looked at with greater sympathy.

He gave a singular wave, bowing his head once to the applause as a spotlight picked him out of the room.

"Since Professor Uzumaki was the driving force behind the naming and organization of Team One-"

 _You damned liar._

"He will have the honor of welcoming them to Beacon as we too welcome him."

 _I could kill him._ Naruto thought hysterically. _It would be so easy. All I'd have to do is forget about the sanctity of life for the next ten seconds. Hell, I could do it in three._

He did not mind announcing Team One's acceptance to Beacon. More than that, he was happy to do it. He'd watched Jaune raptly during his fight with the sasori. The kid still sucked at fighting, but he had some instinct. He took the blows better than Naruto expected, formed a plan to work around his weakness, and led their team well.

He didn't mind announcing their team. What he didn't want was for said team to know the decision he'd made. He was hoping a certain white-haired shorty's aggression wouldn't have a target.

No such luck.

"Of course," Naruto answered, using decades upon centuries of experience to make his unamplified voice fill the hall. "Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Weiss Schnee, and Blake Belladonna," Naruto spit out the last name spitefully. Stupid 'b'. Not prepared to make the announcement, he decided to adopt the headmaster's words. "The four of you will henceforth be known as Team One."

Naruto took a deep breath before taking the plunge. "Led by Jaune Arc."

* * *

Naruto woke up feeling bad for Jaune the next day. He didn't need to be in Team One's dorm to be certain that they'd probably spent the majority of their night discussing his leadership choice. Jaune was far and away the weakest on their team, that much was obvious. Naruto couldn't fall back on the defense that the young blond was a tactical savant either. His plan with the deathstalker had worked, but there were a hundred better ways to do it.

Jaune wasn't a great choice. He wasn't even a good choice. The kid was simply the least bad card Naruto had been dealt.

Weiss wanted to lead, but for all the wrong reasons. Leadership was a feather in her cap, an accolade to be added to the list. As it was, appointing her leader was risking the chance she'd choose valor for herself over the safety of her team. It hadn't taken Naruto more than a thirty-second conversation with her to figure that out. That wasn't a risk he was willing to take.

Blake was neither good nor bad. Her obnoxious name aside, she'd not distinguished herself during initiation. She might be a better leader than Jaune, she might be worse. Naruto didn't know. He'd rather take a gamble on Jaune who potentially had what it took to grow into a leader over flipping a coin on a person he knew nothing about.

And the last option was the one he least wanted to make their leader; Pyrrha Nikos. Naruto would sooner appoint Weiss to teach his class than he would make her a leader. Jaune and her other teammates might not have noticed the way she toyed with the sasori, but he certainly did. The redhead could have ended that fight ages ago.

She hadn't. Naruto didn't know the reason — the reason didn't matter — she'd watched Jaune get bludgeoned instead of showing her capabilities. He'd checked the chakra, aura, whatever, of each and every student before they were launched into the forest. She came in second with a hell of a lot more control of it than the moron in first. She had a semblance and she'd unlocked it. She clearly knew how to fight better than her peers too.

Someone who chose to watch people get hurt when they could do something about it earned Naruto's difficult to provoke disdain.

He banished the thoughts from his mind. Whatever happened to Jaune on his team was something the kid would have to face on his own. Naruto had his own challenges to face.

Ozpin had given Naruto an incredibly nice, probably expensive, and definitely overly large lecture hall to call his classroom. It was divided into a left section, right section, and center section with four aisles of stairs; two on each flank and two separating the center from the sides. The desks were terraced up the stairway with each level consisting of three large desks that multiple students would sit at. It would serve him well in his classes to come.

Not this class, though. The first class he had was a three-hour session with the second-years. Naruto had a good idea of exactly how the student vets were going to react to a new professor in their school. He'd chosen to have their first class outdoors anticipating that. There was a clearing on the treeline of the Emerald Forest where he'd placed enough chairs for the entire class. There were no desks. If they wanted to take notes then they'd figure something out.

He'd also made sure each and every one of those chairs was anchored in place. The students would fall off before the chairs themselves toppled over.

Soon enough the second-years began to trickle into his 'class'. He'd arranged the chairs in a concave so everyone would hopefully be able to see and hear him without strained necks or frayed vocal cords. The men and women that walked in looked considerably different than the first years. They weren't shinobi, but each walked with the unmistakable gait of those who'd weathered their fair share of combat.

It spoke well of Beacon's teaching that not a single second-year arrived late to the changed venue. Ozpin had messaged the scrolls of all the team leaders who'd be attending this class the day prior. Sometimes you didn't get a single hour of notice before plans changed when you were on assignment, but at least the second-years valued timeliness.

Even the latest of the group still made it before the ten o'clock cut off, albeit barely. "Coco! Hurry up!"

"Cool it, Vel. We made it. Might have been a bit tight…"

"Coco…" The rabbit-eared girl scowled

"Might have been _really_ tight. Hey, skin like mine doesn't maintain itself. Proper moisturization takes time."

Thoroughly disinterested in whatever could possibly come next in that conversation, Naruto ceased his eavesdropping. That he'd chosen to ignore the specifics of their conversation didn't mean that he was able to tune out the noise of their bickering completely. Unluckily for that team, the annoyingness of their tiny squabble was enough to wake Kurama from his slumber atop Naruto's shoulders. His partner popped one eye open and regarded them vengefully.

As if they were trying to dig themselves a deeper hole, the two girls and two boys that accompanied them continued their bickering up until what would have been the bell. The larger boy stopped the two of them the instant the clock struck ten.

A good thing since that was exactly when Naruto started. "Good morning everyone. I am Professor Uzumaki as you most likely heard at yesterday's ceremony," Damn Ozpin. "Although my class is officially named Field Tactics, I will also be teaching survivalism alongside it. I look forward to working with you all."

Naruto had decided to wear the same attire he'd worn for most of his life. His black pants, orange and black zip-up top with the red symbol for the Uzumaki clan emblazoned on the back. It might not be seen by the class since he'd decided to wear his Kage's cloak over the top of it. It was something he'd been wearing only for a few weeks now. He'd been in Remnant for a while, but it hadn't been a month since he decided to take the plunge and become a teacher.

And if he was to lead again as an educator, what better clothes were there to wear than when he'd led before?

A hand had shot up in the crowd before he'd finished his opening statement. Having a fair guess what it would be about, he gestured to the person and gave permission for him to ask.

"What will you be covering in Field Tactics and Survivalism?"

Naruto liked the ring of that. Why didn't he name his class that? _Ahh well, too little too late._ "That's going to depend based on who I'm teaching. Your class as second-years is going to cover much different material than I will be going over in the first-year course."

Naruto gave a few seconds for the murmurs to pass through his class. He'd make sure his class treated him respectfully, but he wasn't going to be a hardass. Not to the point of demanding their total silence for three hours in a row, at least. He was sure he'd develop a rather harsh reputation as an educator given time.

"To answer the question I'm sure a few of you want to ask me; I'll need to teach the first-years how to approach a mission, how to fight in formation, and other means and methodologies they'll use in service to accomplishing their objectives," Naruto paused to smile. "I'm not going to waste my time or your own teaching you what you already know."

"You've already had almost two years of experience going on missions. I'm not going to insult you or my colleagues by pretending I need to teach you how to accomplish objectives. The second-year course will primarily focus on dealing with extenuating circumstances; how to grasp victory from the clutches of defeat, or at the very least live to fight another day."

A hand rose lazily from his class. It was the girl in the black beret who had made a ruckus at the beginning of his class. "Coco, was it?"

"You got it, Prof," She answered with a grin. "Not trying to knock your class or anything, but what's the point? We finally got out of history and _grimm studies_ ," Naruto noticed the emphatic inflection she put on the latter, though he did not understand why. "I was looking forward to having more time in my team's schedule to train up or take it easy before our next assignment."

 _There's always one._ Naruto mused. He'd spent a few years teaching these past centuries. It was a nice way to feel like you were accomplishing something when things felt a little too stagnant in the world. Do it long enough and you realized there was always a rabble-rouser who thought they were hot shit. It looked like Coco was going to be his for the second years.

Luckily, he'd come prepared. "A fair question. How many of you have been on longer missions? The kind where if you're separated from or lose your rations you'd have a problem."

About three-quarters of the hands went up. Coco kept her hand raised as well.

"For those of you that haven't, I can assure you it's a different experience than the weekend trips you'll take to knock out a simple mission. Sometimes it's a lot of patience, others involve a whole lot of information gathering, and there are those that just have you fighting a horde of enemies over a long period of time so an area can be declared 'safe'. Most of the time it'll be some combination of two, but sometimes you get lucky and have to deal with all three at once."

The class chuckled. Some in laughing amusement, others with grim humor.

"Sometimes you get separated from your ruck, your transport, or whatever you were using to store your food. Maybe you're taking a transport bullhead and run into a few airborne grimm who take it down and your food burns in the wreckage. Whatever the scenario is, imagine you find yourself without food and you're dropped in the middle of nowhere. What do you do?"

One of Coco's teammates, the smaller boy, raised his hand. "We would hunt."

Naruto nodded. "Not a bad idea. What else?"

"You don't need much else," The boy replied. "Even a single rabbit can go a long way in a stew. Getting something larger can last longer. If you can hunt, you're set."

" _If_ you can hunt," Naruto repeated his words back with emphasis. "And a lot of students here probably agree with you. Show of hands, who agrees with…?"

"Fox."

Kurama's ears twitched. Naruto ignored him. "With Fox?"

A substantial number of hands went up. There were less than before. Some of the students looked like they agreed, yet they didn't raise their hands for fear of a trap.

They were right, of course. "There's the obvious argument that you can't know if there will be game to hunt. Grimm do hunt deer and the like even though they don't need the sustenance to survive. Not sure why they do it, but I've seen it myself. Then you get into the specifics of hunting that people don't think about."

"Specifics?" Fox asked.

"How are you going to hunt? Are you going to shoot a gun in a forest filled with grimm? That's like ringing the dinner bell to every grimm who hears it."

There was more than a fair share of embarrassed shuffling in the crowd and Naruto understood why. They knew hunting was a way to get food. They knew firing their weapons would attract grimm. The thing was they hadn't been in a situation where they needed to hunt to survive. Because of that, they'd never bothered to put two and two together. Having two pieces of conflicting information that you never connected was incredibly common. Moreso when you were new and inexperienced. Missions or not, Naruto doubted Ozpin was throwing these students into the thickest of it all.

"We'll cover things like how to hunt safely, forage for edible plants and fungi, and other means to make sure you don't starve if push comes to shove," Naruto explained, earning nods and muted agreement from the class. "We'll also do scenario training and combat exercises for the worst case scenarios. Beacon has helped prepare you to make sure things go right on your missions. My class is going to be a crash course on what to do when things go wrong."

Once more, Coco's hand went into the air. Once more, Naruto allowed it. "What kind of combat exercise? Isn't that Goodwitch's thing?"

"Unless I see something glaring I've no intention of teaching you how to fight. As you've said, that's Professor Goodwitch's area of expertise," Though he could certainly do the job if needed. "Again, these scenarios and exercises will be focused on decision making. While you may be asked to participate in combat in my class, very rarely will it be for something like a spar."

"We'll be sparring in this class?" A student asked without raising their hand.

"I did say very rarely, but I may spar with the top performing teams," Naruto answered. He didn't bother being strict about the hand raising since this was basically the Q and A to prepare the students for what they'd learn. "Sometimes you'll need to use teamwork to deal with a singular superior opponent. Plenty of teams fail at coordinating properly when it comes to focusing on a single target. While I don't expect any of the teams here to actually best me, it should afford you valuable insight."

The students in this class were aged nineteen to twenty. All of these students were technically adults, yet all of them still had their fair share of childish tendencies. Among them, Naruto was sure that a majority would have a compunction to defend their honor. A huntsman saying he could take on your entire team by himself? Maybe he was just that good.

A huntsman saying he could take on your entire team by himself _with ease_?! Those were fighting words.

And some students were ready to fight. "Okay, Prof. I'm sure you think you're hot shit since you got hired on here at Beacon," Coco started. Naruto had a feeling she'd be the one to take the bait. "But Beacon teams are a cut above the rest. Not only could my team beat you, we'd demolish you."

Naruto and Kurama bared their teeth in identical grins. "Well then, why don't we start this class with a demonstration?"

His class didn't bother with whispers this time around. The concave of students burst into conversation as Coco rose from her seat, her female teammate desperately trying to pull her back to it.

A professor versus student fight was a rarity at Beacon from what he'd been told. Considering he was fresh blood, the quickest way to earn the respect of the students who had been at Beacon longer than he had was to push the faces of the most confident team into the dirt and hold them there for a little while. He admired Coco's spunk and confidence. Personality-wise, Naruto liked her.

Too bad she probably wouldn't like him after this.

"Alright! Can I get Coco's team town here? Let's have ourselves a match."

There was applause and more than a few wolf-whistles as Coco sauntered her way towards the front with sashaying hips that made her ass practically dance from side to side. It had to be intentional since there was no way walking like that was comfortable. She lifted a pair of solid black shades that were clipped to her tan brown belt. The turtleneck she wore was a dead ringer for the color of the belt, as were her jeans the same color as her shades, beret, and heeled boots. The heels on her boots were pronounced to the point that even with the grass muting the sound, Naruto could swear he heard the click of them as she walked.

She carried a small black handbag in her right hand.

The other three were all dressed in the stock Beacon uniform. A pleated and primarily red skirt for the rabbit-girl with the odd cross of black and gold running through it. Simple and well maintained black slacks for the boys. While both boys and girls wore the gold trimmed black suit-top, they differed with the rabbit-girl having some red laced ribbon tied near her collar atop the vertically pleated white dress shirt that her suit made visible. Underneath their suits, the men wore a blue vest and a solid red tie. All in all, it was a very colorful ensemble.

When Coco and her team made it to the front of the class, Naruto gestured to a part of the clearing forty feet away. It was far enough that the rest of the class shouldn't be hit by anything. Well, save for a shockwave.

"I'll lay out the ground rules," Naruto announced as he locked his left elbow into the crook of his right arm, stretching needlessly to prepare. "Semblances are fine, weapons are fine, everything goes. Only thing I don't want you to do is hit your classmates. Otherwise, come at me like you're trying to kill me or you won't be able to do anything."

Naruto hoped he sounded as cool as Kakashi-Sensei did when he'd said it all those years ago.

"You got spunk old man," Coco taunted him.

Naruto chuckled. He was an old man, no doubt about that. Old as he actually was, he looked no more than thirty-five. This firecracker of a girl was trying to goad him. Coco could have been doing it for reputation, as a tactic, or maybe it was who she was. It didn't matter, it didn't work.

The other girl on her team looked more distressed than he was. The two boys wore a mix of apathy and reluctant acceptance. It was probably just who the girl was after all.

"Since I don't know your names and I'll have to grade you for this, let me have 'em."

"Yatsuhashi Daichi," The large one complied readily. Despite being in school clothes he still carried his large weapon in a scabbard on his back. Unsheathing his huge sword, he stood calmly at the ready.

"Fox Alistair. Sorry about this, Professor." The boy replied. Naruto noticed his eyes were completely white. That fact distracted him so much that he didn't notice the boy had equipped some sort of bladed tonfa. The handle may have had a trigger mechanism, but the boy held it in such a way that Naruto couldn't confirm its existence or rule it out.

"V-velvet Scarlatina. I'm also sorry!" The bunny girl said, bowing at a near ninety-degree angle, twice, before holding her fists up into a fighting stance.

"Full name's Coco Adele," Coco answered with a smirk, tucking an unruly bang back into place with her finger. "I'm the leader of Team Coffee."

Naruto returned her smirk. "Alright Coffee. To make this fair I'm going to give you a mission objective," Naruto raised his voice to make sure everyone could hear. "If any of the four remain standing after ten seconds, Team Coffee will… be… wait a second," Naruto paused as he realized that something was out of place. "What's the acronym for your team?"

"Beg your pardon?"

"The four-letter acronym every team has. What's yours?"

"Ahhh," Yatsuhashi hummed his understanding as Fox smiled. "It's Team CFVY."

Naruto blinked. "There isn't a 'v' in coffee."

"That's what I told the professor," Fox agreed.

"The professor told me it was because coffee has a silent 'v'." Velvet added innocently.

The sound of Naruto's teeth made in his inner ear was like dragging the tip of a kunai down a sword's blade. A silent 'v' indeed. He'd be having words with his moustached colleague very soon.

"I give up. Team Coff-vee, attack whenever you're ready and we'll get this over with. Ten seconds on your feet and you win," Naruto sighed.

Beacon was beginning to make him hate team names.

Coco's irritation at his proper pronunciation of her team's name matched his own at having to correct it. "Yats, Fox, box."

That was all Team Coff-vee needed to spring into action. The two boys dashed forward with the big one going for Naruto's left side while the smaller one headed for the right. Velvet and Coco followed up, one on each side while giving the boys on their team about five feet of clearance. They were fast. He probably only had a couple of seconds before they closed the distance.

In the shinobi world that was nowhere near fast enough.

 _Kurama?_ Naruto requested without actually stating his request. The fox's eyes gleamed with fiendish joy as his maw opened.

Blue and blackish-red bubbles converged at the opening of his mouth into a small purple ball about the size of a lemon.

"Possible projectile from the fox!" Fox ironically warned his team.

Naruto had time for one bark of laughter before Kurama let loose the shot. It was funny trying to decide which statement did less justice; calling a Bijūdama a projectile or labeling Kurama as a simple fox.

 _Don't miss._ Naruto warned his partner superfluously. The salvo was already in flight before he could finish.

The shot flew straight down the center Team Coff-vee had left open. "Don't let him charge another one!" Coco ordered.

 _Really?_ Kurama asked incredulously as he turned his neck to look at Naruto. Naruto returned his partner's look, completely taking his eyes off the oncoming team. His partner looked offended.

 _I never miss._

The Bijūdama exploded a fair distance away. The giant spherical explosion consumed everything in its path, almost climbing as high as the cliffs of Beacon at its apex.

Naruto lifted both of his arms to make a ninety-degree angle with his body and closed his eyes.

 _One._ Naruto counted as both his arms took a heavy impact. _And two._

Opening his eyes, Naruto tilted his head downward. Fox was lying in a crumpled heap on top of Velvet. Naruto was pretty sure he'd clotheslined the poor kid based on how it felt. Yatsuhashi looked to be more fortunate… at least until you realized his body was a few inches above the ground.

"Ghhgh…" The small sound of feminine gurgling could be heard somewhere in the vicinity underneath Yatsuhashi.

Understanding the request of his leader, Yatsuhashi rolled onto his stomach to the left, revealing a frizzy-haired, much less chique Coco Adele.

"Unfortunately, it appears that Miss Adele and her team have failed their objective," Naruto turned to his class, most of whom had failed to remain seated and were now sprawled across the ground, the chairs, each other, or some combination of all three. On the plus side, his anchoring job had worked wonders on the chairs. "Would anybody else like to give it a go?"

The shaking of heads that ensued could only be described as frantic. Even Yatsuhashi shook his head for fear of being asked to go again despite that meaning rubbing it directly into the dirt.

"Fantastic! Then let us get back to class."

* * *

Jaune was not having the best first day at school. Team One had gotten off to a rocky start thanks to Beacon's newest professor. In a shocking turn of events that nobody could have possibly foreseen, Weiss did not like the idea of Jaune being leader over her.

Go figure!

Jaune was on her side — he had no idea why he'd been made leader. How was there a problem, then? Weiss had immediately tried to usurp him. Knowing full well that he was not leader material, Jaune was more than happy to peaceably allow the coup d'etat and keep his head in the process. Again, at no point should there have been any conflict.

Except for the detail that his new partner did not seem to like the way Weiss was treating him. Pyrrha said, and had said many times since, that she had full confidence that Jaune would make a fine leader.

Which made about one and a quarter of Team One that did. Blake had said she believed Jaune could grow into the role, making up the other quarter of the believer camp.

Jaune was clueless. Absolutely clueless. Why would Naruto make him a leader? Naruto _knew_ how crappy he was. The man had been responsible for one-hundred percent of his supervised training before classes today! The argument between Weiss and Pyrrha had only gotten worse during Professor Goodwitch's class when some giant of a freshman handed him his own ass. Weiss correctly cited it as further evidence that Jaune was the weakest of them all and hence shouldn't be their leader. Pyrrha's rebuttal had been to offer to help train him.

He'd said no. He was a student just as much as they were. He didn't want his team thinking they needed to get him up to speed so he could keep up, even if they did. That wasn't even bringing in to account the fact that he was technically their leader. He'd figure it out himself and train himself. Pyrrha didn't need to get involved.

The fight had reached its climax during lunch when a frustrated Weiss stormed out of the lunchroom, leaving Team Rain and the remainder of Team One at their collective lunch table.

"Sheesh," Yang almost spat the word out. "What's wrong with the Ice Princess? She wake up and realize she's on the wrong side of Remnant?"

"We're having some minor technical difficulties," Jaune answered exhaustedly.

"Minor?" Pyrrha asked him pointedly. "She is the most petulant, self-absorbed, uncompromising elitist I've ever known! She has no right to talk down to you that way!"

"You mean other than the fact that Winchester turned my face into ground meat with that mace of his."

Pyrrha winced. "It's unreasonable to expect everyone to come to Beacon with the same fighting experience."

Jaune sighed, pushing his peas around the slot in their tray without actually touching them. He hadn't had any right to expect his team would be okay with how weak he was. Pyrrha's staunch defense was far more than he deserved having essentially snuck into the school. Still, as selfish and unfair as it might have been, Jaune had hoped he wouldn't have been thrust into the spotlight of leadership for his failures to shine all the more terribly.

"You might not be the strongest, but I heard about the way you helped fight the deathstalker," Lie Ren said. The two of them had formally introduced themselves in class when Ruby had dragged her entire team to sit by his own. All Jaune knew was that Ren (as he liked to be called) was a quiet guy.

"Yeah!" Ruby supported him enthusiastically. "You kicked that things… butt? Back? Whatever it was, you kicked it good!"

Jaune smiled in spite of it all. Ruby was like concentrated positive energy given diminutive form. It was hard not to smile when she beamed at you like she was right now.

It bought him a few seconds before his utter fatigue had him sighing again. "Why can't we let Weiss be team leader again?"

"She's awful!"

"She's a Schnee."

Jaune looked to Pyrrha and Blake, both of whom were unwilling to budge for their respective reasons and gave up. He didn't understand what this whole 'Schnee' thing was, but Blake had voiced a vehement dislike of it whenever Weiss was safely out of earshot. It was just a last name. What was the deal?

Blake might not have been sure he could be a leader, but the two of them were friendly after fighting the deathstalker. The way Blake acted, however bad she thought he might be, she was convinced that Weiss would somehow be worse.

"Small technical difficulties?" Yang asked him teasingly.

"Yeah," Jaune stood by his statement lifelessly. "Maybe if I hit my head hard enough against the table I'll turn off and on again and it'll be fixed."

Yang snorted, enjoying the joke at his expense. She didn't get a chance to respond before one of their ranks returned from getting seconds.

"Holy crap! Did you guys hear?" Nora Valkyrie asked, a tray full of… something in her hands. Jaune couldn't tell what food she'd made disappear underneath the mountain of syrup.

"We would need a subject to that question to know if we've heard it or not," Ren said patiently.

"Uhhh, no you wouldn't, Renny. If you'd heard, you'd totally know!"

"Sounds juicy," Yang grinned. "Give me the report Cadet Valkyrie!"

"Sir yes Sir!"

"Heyyyyy…" Ruby whined. "I'm the leader!"

"Everyone's saying the new professor exploded the second years!"

There were a few cries of disbelief while Blake and Ren had no response other than two pairs of eyebrows slightly raised in surprise. Jaune was in neither camp. Fully and wholly convinced the rumors were true, Jaune could do nothing but groan.

"Actually exploded or Ruby exploded?" Yang asked.

"Hey!"

"I don't know!" Nora answered animatedly. "But apparently if you go to the cliffs over the Emerald Forest you can see a team of second years fixing the crater."

"Crater?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah! The person said a team was digging up dirt from the Emerald Forest and putting it into wheelbarrows to fill the crater! The quake we felt in first period was the explosion!"

Yang rolled her eyes. "Come on, Nora. You can't believe everything you hear."

For the first time that day Jaune laughed. It was the manic chuckle of a man who'd trained under the accused. It was the hysterical laughter of someone who wished they could join in Yang's skepticism.

Jaune wasn't sure if he could lead Team One. He wasn't sure if he could make it at Beacon. There was only one thing Jaune was absolutely certain of right now.

There was definitely a crater next to the Emerald Forest.

* * *

 _ **I don't know if you had fun reading this, but I had fun writing it. Feel free to leave some reviews on this story since I haven't gotten many. If you wish to support or wish to get the patron rewards and poll options, check out**_ _ **[**_ ** _p a treon . com (slash) Faulkner]. Peace._**

 ** _Edit: Yes, I know about ABWN Auburn. I have plans in store for that._**


	9. Mandate of Heaven

**_Greetings and salutations! Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. Matter of fact, over the past few days I've released something like 60 pages of writing. Fun little oneshot called 'Devil's in the Details' has been posted for those of you who are interested. Anyways, I'm posting this at work on a break and will be updating it later tonight with a much sassier AN. Next OFNT chapter coming soon._**

 ** _Edit: Oof. Long day, lemme tell you. I burned out of writing pretty hard for a good month there. Writing The Devil's in the Details for my own fun instead of hitting a deadline really motivated me to get back into it. I also rewatched Geass for the first time in five years. Lot's of fun stories that made me want to continue writing my own._**

 ** _I said I'd be sassy, yet I feel my sassiness is absent at present. I'd fire a salvo filled with my annoyance at the few reviewers who have stated the opinion of "Naruto is not a character about hard-work", but I'd prefer to do so in the actual story next chapter. For now, know that I disagree and double down on my opinion that Naruto is a character of hard work. Pointing to his lineage and Kurama is like saying ninety-five percent of NBA players aren't hard workers because genetics made them tall. So much for not firing. Whoops._**

 ** _Special thanks to Fuyuriku for correcting an especially error-ridden chapter. Might have had something to do with the length or how out of practice I was, but he had his work cut out for him this time around. I'll try to write less like I'm drunk in the future and spare you the worst of it._**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

 **Mandate of Heaven**

If Jaune had any hope of his day going better after lunch, it was swiftly abandoned when he realized who their fourth and final class for the day was.

"Do you have any idea as to what Professor Uzumaki's class will be about?" Weiss asked him. She'd joined back up with the rest of Team One by waiting outside the classroom door.

Throughout all of this, Weiss hadn't blamed him for what happened. She'd stated calmly, if a bit pretentiously, that she had been instructed in the discipline of leadership from a young age. She also brought up that his training 'on the road' meant he was likely more accustomed to working alone. In reality, he had no experience either way, but seeing as that wasn't what he led her to believe on the airship —not to mention that he didn't see any benefit to bringing it up — Jaune had agreed with her.

The gist of what she was saying was that he shouldn't be their leader. That was something Jaune could get behind. He'd lied his way into this school. As much as he had every intention of living up to the opportunity he'd been given, that didn't mean he should be leading people who'd been doing for years what he'd been doing for the past week.

For differing reasons, he and Weiss were in agreement. The same could not be said for Weiss and his partner. His partner who was currently making an incredibly convincing polite smile as that Jaune had already learned to tell was fake. He wasn't the most perceptive guy around, true, yet put anyone in a situation where they have to look at the same phony look twenty times in as many hours and they'll probably get the gist too.

"Not a clue," Jaune admitted.

"Really?" Weiss asked disbelievingly. "You don't have any idea?"

"Why _would_ he know?" Pyrrha asked leerily.

"Because Naruto trained me," Jaune answered, doing his damnedest to stop the brewing catfight. They'd already had several throughout the day and he didn't need another one. "Weiss knew that because I told her on the way to Beacon."

Weiss sighed. "Which makes it surprising that you don't know what he'd teach. I'd hoped to go in and impress him. We are the team named in his honor."

Based on Naruto's attempts to put a hole in the auditorium wall with his forehead, Jaune had his doubts about that. It was yet another item to add to the list of things he wasn't going to bring up.

"The professor taught you?" Blake asked.

"Taught me everything I know," Jaune repeated the exact words he'd given Weiss.

Blake hummed without saying anything. She paused, waiting patiently for someone else to be the one to lead them into the class. Jaune understood why. Their last class before lunch had been Professor Goodwitch's. The professor had to verbally request — more like sternly demand — that Pyrrha and Weiss stop arguing before class could start.

Jaune didn't get it. He understood Pyrrha was trying to be a good partner and support him, but what was with her attitude towards Weiss?

"Nothing?" Weiss pressed him again. "A hint? An inkling?"

Jaune struggled to think of something concrete. After failing to do so, he figured describing his experience would be the best he could offer. "He's big on breaking people out of misconceptions they have. However hard you think you can push yourself, he'll push you five times harder to prove you wrong," Jaune chuckled morosely.

He tried to search for an example but had a difficult time finding one. Not because he lacked material, god no, but more that it was hard to find which act of physical torture best illustrated his point.

"I couldn't do the splits." The words fell out of Jaune's mouth before he realized he'd made a decision.

"The splits?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah," Jaune answered, going with it. "He said being able to do the splits was important for a few reasons. Told me to go as deep as I could, then pushed me the rest of the way when I wasn't expecting it."

Weiss nodded. "A common way to get through the last inch."

"I probably had a foot and some change before I hit the ground."

Blake winced. "That-" She paused, waiting for a team they didn't recognize to pass and entered Naruto's class before continuing. "That would tear-"

"My everything?" Jaune laughed. "Yeah, you're telling me. It wasn't like he was totally reckless. He had some sort of healing pow-semblance," Jaune corrected himself to use the right terminology, even though Naruto had never referred to it as such. "Healed my legs while I did the splits so the muscles would fix themselves around it."

At least that's what he thought Naruto had explained to him. The whole memory was understandably hazy. He wouldn't be surprised if he'd subconsciously blocked as much of it out as possible.

"A brutal pragmatist." Weiss assessed simply. She didn't sound particularly against that statement, though Jaune couldn't help but think there was something in her voice that hadn't been there before.

"Not exactly," He hedged. "He said he wasn't a fan of taking shortcuts like that. Only did it because he didn't want me forming any bad habits."

And he wouldn't. Not in that area, at least. He'd stretched every morning and before every exercise since. If he did lose his flexibility, Jaune knew Naruto would _help_ him get it back. That was the kind of future Jaune wholeheartedly wanted — and was willing to do whatever it took — to avoid.

"So we should expect him to be a strict teacher?" Pyrrha asked.

He didn't answer right away. Truthfully, he wasn't sure what they should expect. Naruto took training more seriously than Jaune had thought possible all while teasing, joking, and laughing it up. Laid back one moment and a veritable drill sergeant the next. What should they expect? He hadn't a clue.

Anything and everything?

"Hope for the best and prepare for whatever's six feet below the worst," Jaune eventually advised them.

That sounded fair.

Jaune broke the stalemate they'd developed by opening the polished oak door and walking into the classroom. Weiss turned and followed after him quick enough to be walking beside him with Blake trailing the both of them. Pyrrha took up the rear, maintaining as much distance from Weiss as possible. It didn't take long after entering before Ruby was waving them down, a spare section of desk and four chairs vacant in front of Team Rain.

When they took their seats, Pyrrha made a point to sit on Jaune's left side closest to the wall. With Blake on his right, that left Pyrrha and his partner as far away from each other as possible. This was such a pain! Why was Pyrrha being so petty?! Why was Weiss being so catty in response?! Neither of them had seemed the type when he first talked to them!

"Before class starts, I want to make sure you guys know — since you weren't here and all," Yang started, inciting an embarrassed groan from Ruby. "That I have called dibs."

"Dibs?"

"Dibs," Yang agreed with Pyrrha emphatically. "I took a pit stop towards the cliffs before class to check on that rumor. Totally real! So that about cinches it; a hot professor who's also a badass? You know I'm calling dibs."

Ruby looked like her embarrassment on behalf of her sister was causing her physical pain while the other girl on their team, Nora, was grinning. Pyrrha had a genuine smile on her face and a slight blush coloring her cheeks while Weiss clearly disapproved of the obvious scandal. Once more Jaune found himself on similar wavelengths with Weiss, though once more for different reasons.

Naruto didn't feel like the dating type to say the least.

Ren and Blake displayed minorly amused smiles. The slightly positive reactions were typical of the two whenever something good or amusing had happened since they started hanging out. Their reactions were always the smallest of the group.

"Alright kiddos, settle down," Naruto's voice announced his arrival before Jaune actually saw him. Three o'clock on the dot, the professor made his way up onto the stage with Kurama resting on his shoulders evidently having been woken recently. The orange-red fox yawning made Jaune uneasy… everything the fox did had that effect. "I've got a class to teach. And unlike the second-years I don't have you for three hours."

The conversation and whispers didn't die out right away. The volume in the class slowly lowered until the only thing that could be heard was the occasional indistinguishable whisper. There was an energy in the class as everyone there waited in anticipation for the answer to a question most all of them had. Would this be an interesting class like Professor Goodwitch's, or would this be a repeat of Grimm Studies?

Jaune had no such questions. While most were worried about how entertaining the class would be, he was more concerned with surviving it.

Yang's hand went into the air. Naruto broke his stride towards the center of the stage to look at it, then nodded at her. "We aren't kids, you know? All of us are _legal_ adults the second we enter Beacon."

Her emphasis made Jaune wonder how quick he could give himself a concussion using the desk.

Naruto snorted. "I've seen the second-years here. _They_ aren't kids. They've been out there and in the thick of it long enough to grow a pair. You guys? Pretty sure I can see a pacifier or two from where I'm standing."

Annoyed disapproval rumbled in the classroom. Jaune despaired. This was pretty much what he'd been expecting, especially when he'd said Naruto liked to break misconceptions. Naruto was saying they were kids, they were saying they weren't. If Jaune had any lien to his name he'd be betting it all that the class would be humming a different tune before the hour was up.

"But hey, fair enough," Naruto ceded. "It's true that Vale recognizes you all as adults as soon as you get into Beacon. Would be kind of awkward to expect you all to fight and die for the people if you weren't allowed to throw back a drink when it was all done. Maybe I was being a little judgemental calling you all green."

"Damn straight."

"Well then let's start a lesson and see how many of you get it," Naruto grinned, snapping a finger as he finished.

Something began wheeling out from the left side of the stage. It didn't take long for Jaune to tell it was a chalkboard. What took him three separate takes to accept was that the chalkboard was pushed by Naruto. A foxless Naruto, but Naruto all the same.

"Now the most important thing you'll need to learn about being a huntsman — assuming you're not an amoral psychopath — is competence," Naruto chuckled to himself. "Seems kind of obvious to say the most important thing is being good at what you do, but let's break that down. I'd break competence as a huntsman up into three separate categories. Who'd like to tell me what one of them is?"

Naruto called on the first hand that went into the air. "You can't be a weakling," Cardin Winchester answered with a sneer.

"Fighting ability is incredibly important when a lot of your job involves fighting," Naruto agreed. "No way around that. If you're spending most of a fight taking mace-shots to the face you're probably not accomplishing whatever your objective is."

Jaune groaned miserably. _Great, he's heard about that. Wonderful._

"Still, there's more to strength than that. Being great at kicking your classmate's ass doesn't mean much when ten grimm swarm you at once. Knowing how to fight grimm doesn't mean you know how to fight off a rogue huntsman. And being good at both of those doesn't mean you have the stamina to handle multiple waves in a row. You must be a capable fighter, a skillful fighter, and a lasting fighter to be considered a capable huntsman."

Naruto wrote the words 'individual strength' largely on the chalkboard, the other unexplained Naruto standing by. There was some scattered conversation about what that was all about, but for the most part students were paying attention. Jaune could see Weiss fervently taking notes on his right. With how full her page looked she might have been writing down what Naruto was saying verbatim.

"Anyone got a guess at the other two?"

Ruby's hand nervously raised. "Teamwork?"

Her anxiety deflated out of her body when Naruto nodded. "Teamwork makes the difference between a good team and a great one. You'll screw up plenty if you don't work on teamwork. Especially as a new team. You wouldn't believe the number of kids I've seen get blasted by a teammate because they stepped in the way of an attack they didn't know was coming."

The word 'teamwork' made it on the board in equally big letters.

"And the last one is intelligence," Naruto continued, not polling the class this time, much to Weiss' chagrin. He wrote that word in smaller letters than the rest. "Aspects of intelligence fits into both combat strength and teamwork categories while not being necessary for either. That makes intelligence its own lesser category. That's because fighting like an idiot doesn't mean you can't win. It means you have to be that much stronger to get that victory. Similarly, a team made of strong members having good teamwork can get by on some of the most idiotic plans."

"Being smart in both your teamwork and fighting style will let both go further than they would otherwise," Naruto stopped, turned to the chalkboard, and underlined the more largely written 'teamwork' and 'individual strength'. "That being said, it's important to remember that being smart is the least important of these three."

"Pro-" Weiss stopped herself before she spoke out of turn, quickly raising her hand and giving it a little wiggle when he didn't immediately respond. Naruto acknowledge her with a nod. "What do you mean, _least important_?"

Naruto looked at her with a critical gaze. "I mean that it's better to be a strong idiot who gets along with people than a pretentious pain-in-the-ass who argues with everyone."

Jaune flinched. Weiss stared, open-mouthed, no response to be given as Naruto continued.

"Let me be clear; Listening to every order given to you isn't the right thing to do. Your leader is going to make a bad decision at some point. If you know better, then it's important that you tell your leader and help them help your team."

"That is what I was-"

"However," Jaune didn't know if Naruto cut Weiss off or didn't hear her in the first place. "If every person on your squad thinks you're insufferable, you'll say something important and they won't listen. You know who they will listen to? The idiot on your team who usually does his best to work with everyone. If he's risking rocking the boat he usually tries to keep afloat, then things must be dire. True or not," Naruto pressed on. "That is how people will react."

"Jaune," Naruto called out. Terrified at what kind of question Naruto might ask him after something like that, it took Jaune a good five seconds to realize he'd raised his hand.

"What if you're a leader and you don't know what to do?"

Not sure what to do on a mission? With some sort of decision? Not sure how to keep your team from fighting…? What if you don't know what to do about any of it?

Naruto's expression softened. "I'm sure there are a lot of leaders here who didn't expect to be named such. One of the teams in this class is led by the youngest first-year we have."

Ruby blushed, tugging her hood over her head as people started looking for her in the class.

"I'm sure some of our leaders have trained and practiced for such a role. We professors are equally aware that many of you have not. We don't expect you to know how to do a job you've never had any training to do. Not right away," He added on at the end.

"The teachers at Beacon will be helping you learn how to lead through the course of their lessons. However, if any student feels they need additional aid — as leaders or otherwise — know that I am here to help in a more individual capacity."

Naruto's uplifting message was ended oddly; with him gesturing to the elephant in the room. Himself. His _other_ self.

"One of my semblances — as you call them — is shadow clones," The other Naruto spoke.

"They are semi-perfect copies of myself that are capable of having conversations, thinking through problems, and for our purposes — more than capable of private tutoring," Naruto added.

"And we can make a few of them," The other Naruto grinned.

"A few," The original Naruto rolled his eyes, exasperated at… well, himself apparently. "To answer your question, Jaune, while we professors are here to help you new leaders get your footing, I understand the task of leading a team can still seem daunting. You might not feel up to the task, but every leader in this room was intentionally chosen over the rest of their team by the professors of Beacon. Whether you agree or disagree with our decisions, I don't care. It's all of your jobs to make your teams work as is."

Naruto paused, waiting to see if there would be any argument. Smiling when there wasn't, he nodded. The clone Naruto wiped the chalkboard clear. "Let's get on with the lesson."

* * *

Naruto was exhausted when he dismissed the first-years from their first class. Teaching was a more normal job than he'd held in a long while. Still, that wasn't to say it didn't come with its own share of difficulties.

He'd done what he could for Team One. As much as he wanted to let the scamps figure things out themselves, he felt there was some measure of interference necessary. He'd looked into Weiss, Pyrrha, and Blake the previous night. Naruto wasn't a master of internet sleuthing, but two of the three had been as easy as typing their names into a search engine.

Weiss was a rich and privileged heiress of the Schnee clan. They had a hereditary semblance and their bloodline was considered potent on the Remnant scale. That probably didn't matter as much when she had the money to buy more power than she could ever hope to achieve on her own.

Naruto tempered his feelings as best he could. Try as he might, it was hard to move past his distaste for the stratospherically upper class. They'd caused him a fair deal of grief over the years.

He'd offered his help because he was certain that she'd protest — or already have protested Jaune's leadership. Naruto thought starting things off with a little lesson on teamwork would be helpful to the fledgling team. It probably wouldn't solve things, but it might give Jaune a lease on life while he got his head out of his ass.

Weiss wasn't the problem Naruto was concerned about. Pride was something easily beaten out of someone. If the heiress proved too unruly he'd step in. Hard to act superior when someone was grabbing you by the hair and pushing your face into the dirt. That little theory has transitioned to theorem with the number of times he pulled it off back home.

No, it wasn't Weiss he worried about. It was Pyrrha Nikos. Remnant was a small pond and she was a big fish. Effective at both short and long ranges, offense and defense, and somehow her opponents always seemed to swing wide if they got a little too close. He'd spent a good hour watching win after win of 'The Goddess of Victory'.

 _That's not a name for a seventeen year old._ Naruto cringed.

Whether or not he agreed with it, he couldn't deny that he understood. He'd racked up more than his fair share of wartime accolades. Defending the village from the Akatsuki had made him a hero. Defeating Kagura? It had made him a legend.

He hadn't really understood at the time how many women were throwing themselves at him. How many men wanted to be him. A good thing too; developing minds normally didn't handle fame well. Funnily enough, being a scorned orphan had helped shield him from getting too big for his britches even after he realized it.

Pyrrha Nikos and all her fame was something on his radar. He wouldn't act… for now. There was such a thing as being too meddling. If he solved all their problems for them — assuming he could — then these kids would grow into useless adults. Naruto would give them a chance to figure things out and fail before he got involved.

 _I can't believe you let me do that._ Kurama remarked. Laughter shook his body as he stretched on Naruto's shoulders.

 _What?_

 _You let me Bijūdama a team of students on the first day. I thought we'd at least make it to week two before one of us felt the urge to blow something up._

Naruto shrugged, moving his partner along his shoulders' path in the process _. You heard how Coco questioned me right off the bat. No one in that class made a peep without raising their hand first after that, and even then none of those hands questioned my ability to teach._

 _So we blow them up?_

 _The simplest method is often the best_

Kurama laughed breathily. _If you're going to play the tyrant I wish you'd chosen to do so on a grander scale._

Naruto didn't dignify that with a response. Instead, he opened the scroll he'd been assigned upon becoming a Beacon Professor. Scroll calls and messaging were how he'd be contacted regarding any important issues pertaining to Beacon. Ozpin had given all the professors Naruto's number and he had all of them as well.

Walking anachronism that he sometimes was, he'd learned how to use the scroll quickly enough. An unread message caught his attention. The title only added to that.

"Top secret?" Naruto read aloud.

Skimming through the contents of the message gave him an idea of what was happening. Even if it wasn't something he'd normally do, Naruto thought it would be too rude to decline on their first real day of school.

 _Looks like I'm going out tonight. You coming?_

 _Hmm?_ Kurama wordlessly expressed his lack of curiosity. _Oh, that._ He moved his snout towards the scroll. _I think I'll pass. Have fun, be safe, don't do anything I wouldn't do._

 _That's not saying much._

Kurama scoffed without outwardly denying it.

Naruto had spent enough time with his partner to know when a conversation was over. Checking the time on his scroll, he realized he'd spent about thirty minutes after class gathering his bearings. It looked like teaching had taken more out of him than he'd expected.

 _Oh well._ Naruto brushed it off. _I've got some time to kill before the 'top secret' event._

That was because the size of the classes meant that four hours was all he had to teach on Monday. Tomorrow would be a little more packed with the third-years coming back for their singular class with him this week. The way Ozpin had explained it, the focus of students would transition from time in the class to time in the field gradually through their schooling. By the time students entered their third year they'd often only take a class every other week. He half-wondered if that was Beacon's secret to managing to float by with such a poorly manned teaching staff.

For now, it didn't matter. Naruto intended to fulfill his obligation as a teacher by holding open office hours. He'd offered as much in class, so no one could criticize his thinking he needed to maintain open availability to see if any students would be taking him up on it.

That he was fully capable of sleeping and waking up to the sound of his classroom door opening had nothing to do with his decision… or so he'd claim if anyone asked.

"Got a few hours," Naruto yawned as he took a seat in one of the student chairs. He stretched his arms above his head before folding them behind his head.

As far as first days went, it hadn't been bad. His choice to come here was beginning to feel like a good one. Maybe a place like Remnant was exactly what he needed.

* * *

Jaune's day could be described in a single word. Rough.

"Admit it! You're the one who told Professor Uzumaki!" Weiss demanded.

"I've told you that I did not," Pyrrha replied coolly. Coolly was probably an understatement. His partner's voice sounded completely frozen over.

"If not you then who? Somebody obviously did!"

"Maybe the professor is just a good judge of character."

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

"It means-"

"Aaaaand that's enough of that," Jaune interrupted Pyrrha. He didn't need a psychic to divine where this was heading. "I don't know about you guys, but those classes were pretty rough. Why don't we put this on hold and relax for a-"

"Absolutely not!" Weiss then interrupted him. " _I_ am going to Professor Uzumaki to clear up this awful misunderstanding. While I'm there I will endeavor to have him make sense of the fiasco that is our leadership."

"There is nothing wrong with our leader!" Pyrrha fumed at the silhouette of Weiss' figure, the girl having retreated beyond the door before she could finish speaking. Weiss wasn't petulant enough to slam the door shut, but her treatment of it was definitely on the gruff side of things.

Jaune collapsed into his bed like a puppet whose strings had been cut. The tension between his two teammates had been the only thing forcing him upright. The four beds supplied by Beacon were still located in the four corners of the room where they'd been initially. Team One hadn't had the time to redecorate with Jaune's aura taking the entirety of last night to patch him up. They'd planned — on Weiss' suggestion — to do so after they'd finished classes today.

So much for that.

"I'm sorry," Pyrrha apologized with an emotion in her voice Jaune had no difficulty recognizing. Guilt.

"I don't understand the problem you guys have with Weiss," Jaune said with the full intention of making sure Blake was involved in this conversation too. She sat on her own bed, eyes glued to the singular book she'd pulled out of her luggage. "She can be abrasive and a bit bossy, but isn't that what you want in a leader?"

"She's a Schnee," Blake repeated the same thing she'd said earlier without moving her focus from the book's pages.

"So the problem is what?" Jaune asked. He'd felt out of the loop when Blake had said that last time so he'd looked into the Schnee name last night. "That she's rich? That her father is a jerk? Children aren't their parents."

If they were, maybe he'd feel competent enough to lead.

"No," Blake said, tucking a bookmark in between the pages of her book before snapping it shut in one hand. "Children aren't responsible for the mistakes of their parents… and parents aren't responsible for all the decisions their children make either," Blake paused. "The problem isn't that she _is_ a Schnee. The problem is that she _acts_ like a Schnee."

"She's too fancy?" Jaune asked, Blake's point completely lost on him.

"She's everything you'd expect of someone like her." Pyrrha agreed acidly.

Jaune knew he was still missing the point entirely. His first impulse was to say he didn't understand until someone made him understand. Jaune immediately buried that compulsion as low down as he could force it. A leader wouldn't be so inept. Like it or not, that's what he was right now

He'd learned Naruto's lessons about trying your hardest. He'd learned how much more there was to a person than they'd ever believed possible firsthand. Jaune had almost given up during Naruto's crash training more times than he could count, yet every time his mentor pushed him on. And every time Naruto believed Jaune had more to give he was right.

He'd taken that experience and used it to beat the deathstalker. How? By not paying attention to useless crap like what he couldn't do and instead focusing on what he could.

So what _did_ he know?

"Pyrrha, what's your deal with Weiss?"

The Pyrrha he'd met in the locker rooms was nice. The Pyrrha he'd met in the Emerald Forest liked to joke and have fun. She was polite, strong, and was more than patient with all of them when she had to hold the deathstalker off while the rest of them got it together. The Pyrrha he'd known for the first day was not this confrontational.

Sure, it was possible that was because he didn't know her all that well yet. There was definitely a chance that this was somehow a standard girl thing he just didn't get. What if it wasn't? It might be nothing, but what if it was something? Maybe he could fix it.

"My deal? She's rude, entitled, and judgemental. You didn't even have a chance to be our leader before she was telling you how bad you'd be at it all while singing the praises of her Schnee upbringing and their leadership training."

That was because he was definitely going to fail. He knew that and Weiss had figured it out. Trying to put herself forward as the leader before he could bungle something beyond fixing was a mercy on her part. The same kind of mercy she'd shown him by unlocking his aura.

He kept that sentiment close to the chest. Outright disagreeing with his partner wouldn't help things, even if he was in total disagreement. He didn't need to focus on what wouldn't work. What could he do to make things better?

"Maybe Weiss is a little self-absorbed," Jaune gave ground in hope of winning the war. It worked, his partner visibly calming down. "That doesn't change the fact that I agree with her."

"Jaune-"

Jaune held up a hand for Pyrrha to stop. She did so quietly and respectfully. It was the complete opposite of how she acted around Weiss.

"I'm not saying I can't be a good leader. I appreciate you sticking up for me too," Jaune smiled. It was nice to know that someone on his team believed in him. "All I'm saying is that if my sister was sick and I had the choice between a trained doctor and some random guy, it'd make sense to let the doctor do his job. I wouldn't care if he was rude, or high-strung, or whatever. All I'd want is the best person for the job of helping my sister."

"Saying things like that proves the professors made the right choice," Blake said with a small smile. "Believing she's doing this for the team makes you hopelessly naive, but not in a bad way. You want what's best for Team One. Weiss wants what's best for Weiss," Her insistence of that fact was adamant. "Schnee are not above sacrificing others to purport their grandeur."

The vocabulary Blake had used sailed over Jaune's head. He'd look the words up later to figure out exactly what she'd said. For now, he'd just assume it meant something bad.

And that made him tired. He didn't think Blake and Pyrrha were right to be so hard on Weiss and yet he couldn't do anything about it. He felt they were wrong without having anything in particular to say against their points. Weiss was nice some of the time. She'd saved his butt by unlocking his aura and every complaint she had about him was more than valid.

But what he thought didn't much matter if he couldn't convince the two of them. For now, he'd do what he could. "I'm going to go train," He announced abruptly. His bed springs squeaked as he rolled his body off of it and onto his feet.

There wasn't much to do here, after all. He wasn't sure if the two of them were right or not, but even if they were wrong there was no chance he'd be able to articulate it well enough that they'd listen. If that was the case, why not try and make it so Cardin couldn't treat him like a human piñata next class?

"If you want, I'm happy to help," Pyrrha offered. "We do both use the sword and shield. If you wanted a few pointers-"

"Maybe next time," Jaune interrupted her. Pyrrha's smile wilted as she nodded and turned back to unpacking her luggage.

Not only did he feel like an ass for shooting her down like that, he felt especially bad for saying no to training the literal day after saying he would. If it was even possible to feel worse, he did because Pyrrha had been doing nothing but going to bat for him. Sure, it might have been by saying he was qualified for the leadership he obviously wasn't, but still.

That hadn't made her staunch support feel any less warm.

Jaune stuck to his guns for two reasons. For one thing, he didn't want to make Weiss feel left out. He owed her for a lot of things and there was no way he was paying back that debt by having the team bond when she wasn't even there. She'd helped him out and he was going to return the favor. That was that.

And secondly… wasn't it weird for a leader to get trained by his team? If he needed Pyrrha's help then why was he the leader in the first place? Maybe that was stupid of him — and he didn't mean it in a macho way. It was more like he couldn't understand why Naruto had made him a leader at all. Fighting, leading, and if their first day was any indicator, schoolwork. Jaune needed help with it all!

So what had Naruto been thinking when he made him the leader of Team One? Frankly, that was another reason he wanted to be alone right now.

He intended to find out the answer to that question straight from the horse's mouth..

* * *

 _This is all Ozpin's fault._ Naruto simmered silently.

Why couldn't things be easy? Was that so much to ask? Throw him a few soft pitches at Beacon before opening up on him with the fastballs, please!

No such luck. "Personally, I found your lesson to be the most informative of the day. I'm not sure how many students have the education and studies necessary to appreciate your lessons, though I certainly do!" Weiss gushed.

No, that wasn't exactly it. The words she used made it sound like she was gushing, but the overall tone of the conversation made Naruto wary. This all felt like sickly-sweet honey leading up to a trap.

"I appreciate the praise." Naruto lied. He found it tiring in actuality.

Weiss had been the first one to seek his counsel if you could call it that. For the past ten minutes, all she'd done is praise both him and herself in almost equal measure, with a slight bias towards herself, of course.

Adding to the annoyance of the situation was how they were staring right at each other. He'd wanted to remain in the odd comfort of the student seating where he'd been napping before Weiss barged in. Thinking that something so casual might give Richy Ms. Rich a poor opinion of him, he pulled up two chairs and set them across from each other on the stage.

"You are welcome," Weiss thanked him in that same pretentious rich-asshole voice that Naruto had loathed in his younger years. It was the voice people had used when they were patting themselves on the back for deigning to validate him. Back then, some rich narcissists still held onto the delusion that he'd be easy to manipulate or, failing that, buy.

They'd been grossly mistaken.

"Professor?" Weiss asked, her brows slanted in concern.

"Hmm?" Naruto hummed. He didn't know if he'd unintentionally succumbed to the urge to tune her out, or if she was mustering the courage to get on with what she thought she was being so coy about. Either way, he'd found that a short hum answered most situations well enough.

"I must admit that I did not come here strictly for counsel, per se," Door number two it was. "I'm concerned — and I don't mean this as any slight against you, Professor — that… well-"

"That I made a mistake making Jaune leader of Team One?" Naruto filled in the blank for her. Having the time to flatter her ego and beat around the bush didn't mean he had the desire.

"No! I mean, yes," Weiss backpedaled. "Not that you made a mistake, Professor, rather that you did not know all of my accomplishments when you made your decision. I don't place any blame on you for not knowing the extremes to which I was _groomed_ and prepared for this task."

Was it Naruto's imagination, or was there a dose of venom in Weiss' voice regarding her upbringing?

It didn't matter. Naruto wasn't one to mince words in any situation. "I can tell you've worked hard to get where you are, and it's important to work for what you want."

"Thank you!" Her voice was so ostentatious he could almost hear her curtsying when she said that. "I've never been one to shy away from a challenge."

Naruto sighed, tapping his foot impatiently. He almost complimented her efforts, same as he had for the past ten minutes. She had a way of getting him trapped in a loop of praise and other flatteries. It was why this whole conversation was taking so long to get anywhere in the first place.

 _Screw it._ Naruto gave up and opted for a more forward approach. _Rip it off like a bandage and be done with it._ "I'm sorry to say that it doesn't change my mind."

His efforts at straightforwardness yielded predictable results. "W-what?" Weiss stuttered in flustration. "You just said-"

"That you've worked hard. I understand that. Understanding doesn't mean I agree it's enough to make you Team One's leader."

Naruto also understood that Weiss wouldn't let this conversation roll over and die that easy. He wished she would since it was going to end the same any way she went about it. He hoped that whichever way she chose was either short or painless. If the powers that be were willing, preferably both.

"I do understand some sort of preferential bias towards a student you've taught," Swing and a miss. "However, I do believe that deciding things based on that is-"

"And what makes you think I made this decision based on bias?" Naruto asked, his right brow arched in question.

"Because… I mean…" Weiss struggled for words. "I do not mean this as an attack on Jaune himself — the two of us are in agreement that I should be Team One's leader — he simply hasn't prepared for the role like I have."

It was odd the way Weiss had phrased that. Something about it struck him as odd, yet he couldn't quite say what.

In lieu of figuring out what, Naruto shrugged. "If you were listening to me in class this morning, you'd remember that I said we professors aren't expecting the leaders we chose to be qualified right away."

"I completely understand that for _other_ teams. What I don't understand is-"

Naruto held up a hand to silence her. His position as professor gave him enough clout with her that she complied, though not without a small pout. Naruto found the childish expression of emotion almost adorable.

Refocusing on why he stopped the conversation in the first place, he crossed his fingers into the familiar sign and summoned a single shadow clone. The puff of smoke startled Weiss, as did the clone immediately walking off the stage and up the steps out of the classroom.

"Another student," Naruto explained shortly. "What were you saying?" He asked, fully hoping she'd forgotten.

No such luck. "While unskilled in combat, I do acknowledge that Jaune performed admirably against the deathstalker. His outlandish plan did allow us to break the stalemate and he deserves the accolades for that, not I. Even knowing that the two of us are in agreement that I'd be better suited to the task."

 _So I wasn't imagining it._ Naruto thought to himself, allowing a smile to eek the corner of his lips up a fraction.

Weiss wanted to be leader, obviously, but not at the cost of Jaune's reputation. While there was an entire vein of amusement to mine on the absurdity of Jaune having a positive reputation to protect, that Weiss was trying to do so was the first sign she'd given him that she was something other than a spoiled princess.

Maybe she was worth a little effort. "Have you ever had to work through steps to learn how to do something?"

"Steps?"

"I guess that was a little vague," Naruto chuckled. Leaning forward towards Weiss in his chair, he held his hand with the palm facing up. As a swirling blue orb formed in his hand, Naruto was hit by a wave of nostalgia. This little guy was the pinnacle of his accomplishments at one point.

 _Simpler times._ Naruto mused nostalgically.

"Professor?" Weiss prompted him, her eyes transfixed on the blue orb.

"Right. Sorry, got a little caught up in my own thoughts there. This little thing here is called a Rasengan," Naruto wiggled his hand for emphasis. The Rasengan's hum might not have been as distinct as the Chidori's obnoxious screeching, yet Naruto would easily recognize it blindfolded. "It's basically a spinning ball made of my energy. There's a little more to it than that, but that's the general idea. "

Weiss looked at it with an almost childish fascination. "Another semblance?"

"Not exactly. Since it's made of bodily energy anyone with enough of it should be able to do it."

Aura had some distinct differences from chakra. From what Naruto had been able to study in the past few years, he'd learned the biggest difference to be that aura was shaped by an individual's nature. People were born with chakra natures, few being able to overcome them as they became more proficient. Aura nature was different as it wanted to exist as dictated by the 'soul'. Whether the soul was something spiritual or some reflection of an individual's personality, Naruto couldn't say without further analysis.

Be that as it may, Naruto knew aura had some degree of malleability. He'd had… something of an experiment subject for the past year to try things out on. Aura could heal the body, albeit slowly. Aura could be summoned into a sort of shield for the body, but only could one do so with conscious efforts. Sneak attacks could incapacitate opponents with ease.

It was the last part that made Naruto suspect there was more to aura than people suspected. It did not exist as a shield naturally, it was summoned to do so. From a scholastic perspective, he wondered if that was merely a way all aura preferred to be summoned. If semblances were the manifestation of aura's rigid preference in the ways by which it existed, then why could every huntsman and huntress use it as a shield? He suspected — without having definitive proof — that if one's held beliefs about aura changed them so too would its behavior.

And if he was wrong, oh well. This would still serve as a powerful demonstration.

"That's enough of that," Naruto said, both to Weiss himself as he dispersed the Rasengan. "Go on, give it your best go."

"My best- you want me to try and make one of those?" Weiss asked a bit incredulously.

"Yes," Naruto answered breezily. "I watched your fight against the saso-deathstalker," Naruto corrected himself. "The way you use your semblance is skillful," By the standards of Remnant, at least. "It's possible you might have the control aspect of this technique down already."

Praise was a currency worth its weight in gold with Weiss. The worry that had previously occupied a majority of her features was replaced by determination. Holding out her hand as he had, Weiss tried to create her own Rasengan. All of her concentration had Weiss looking like she needed to use the facilities. Veins in her forehead flecked as her attempts grew increasingly more desperate.

It took five minutes of silent work before Weiss threw in the towel. "I'm sorry, Professor. I think this is currently beyond my capabilities." She admitted bitterly.

That wasn't a surprise to Naruto. It was an S level jutsu, and that wasn't even starting on the rigid preferences aura looked to have on the ways it was used. If Weiss had managed to get the jutsu he'd had to train hundreds of hours to use on the first go he would have been unfathomably peeved.

"You've got some pretty ridiculous control of your aura, it's just not enough," Naruto shrugged. "There's more to the Rasengan than control. You don't have the power to make one."

Whether that was because she didn't have enough aura or because aura lost much of its potency when you forced it to change it from its preferred state was a mystery he didn't have an answer to.

Yet.

Studying chakra and jutsu had become something of a hobby in his old age. He'd dissected many of his friend's techniques as well as delving deeper into the theory of chakra natures. He'd approached aura with the same studious eye after coming to Remnant. Still, many questions remained and he intended to poke around aura's mysteries more in due time. For now, he should try and see what kind of kid Weiss was.

"I couldn't manage the first time either, so I wouldn't feel bad about it." Naruto endeavored to both reassure her and get his mind back from its meandering. Old age gave your thoughts a tendency to wander.

Weiss had a confusing reaction to his attempt at comfort. On one hand, it looked like she was grateful that her failure was more or less expected. At the same time Naruto could tell she was hoping she could have outdone her professor.

 _Cheeky brat._ Naruto thought with a hint of a smirk. _Weiss Schnee… she's a precocious one._

"The Rasengan has been passed down from generation to generation. While I won't deny that some have learned it quicker than others, I myself had to learn it in steps," Naruto returned to what he'd been trying to say minutes ago. He pushed forward before Weiss could ask any questions. "The first leg of the race is all about power."

Naruto flipped open the satchel hanging on the right side of his waist. He didn't need to rummage through it wasn't his combat satchel. His kunai and sealing scrolls were comfortably hidden away in his new room. The satchel he had on him now was intended for pens, paper, and other professorly items. Today, however, the satchel was occupied by something entirely different. Two somethings to be precise.

"Catch," Naruto said as he scooped the item out of his pouch and into the air. A concerned part of him wondered if Kurama's bad influence had made him a skosh sadistic. When Weiss caught the object he'd thrown without any fuss Naruto found himself put out. He was kind of hoping to see her fret.

"A ball?"

"A rubber ball," Naruto confirmed. "I was taught the Rasengan in three steps: power, control, and then combining them both. The first step of learning the Rasengan is being able to make your aura circle violently enough in that ball that's it pops. Your aura control is well above most of the students here, but you probably can't pop that ball without your semblance."

Weiss went from beaming from the praise to trying her best at quashing the scowl that had snuck up on her. The speed and severity of the transition was amusing in its own right.

"Kami, simmer down," Naruto chuckled. "Look, you need power to make a Rasengan. Power that you don't have right now. If you can't muster the power to make one then what's the point in being able to control it?"

"I _suppose_ that makes sense," Weiss admitted with the utmost reluctance.

Naruto smiled, the bait for his trap set. He'd get back to that in due course. "There are ways to expand your body's capacity for aura," Probably. He assumed. "If it's an endeavor you wish to pursue, I'd be happy to help you do so."

Weiss blinked. Her right leg rubbed across the left she'd crossed it atop of a single time. A subtle expression of interest in his offer. "You can do that?"

"I'm an expert of sorts on aura," Naruto pseudo-lied. He was _the_ expert on chakra in the Elemental Nations. Since aura seemed to be easier to use, more picky chakra, he wasn't really lying. "I'm sure there's a way that would work to increase your aura reserves. Plus, that would probably give your semblance a little extra oomph too."

Naruto could tell he'd spoken the magic words with that last remark by the way Weiss' eyes lit up. He made a note of her semblance stigma and filed it away.

"Thank you, Professor. I'm willing to spend as much time and effort as is necessary to better my abilities."

And there it was again. That overly pompous way of speaking that poisoned the small affection her fun reactions had begun to garner. Maybe it was a product of nurture and could be smacked out of her. Or it was just as likely to be her nature. Still changeable, though the act of doing so would be considerably more difficult.

"It's fine," Naruto answered breezily, wanting nothing more than to blow past another bout of gratitude. Another back and forth of thankfulness and flattery would only derail the conversation that he was trying to have.

It was funny, he realized, that the fastest way to have the conversation he wanted — the conversation he knew Weiss was trying to have — was to try and end it.

"Would that be all, Ms. Schnee?"

The way Weiss was almost transparent about trying to keep her emotions in check made the small reactions comical in of themselves. His feigned motion to curtail things sent the heiress into a tailspin acted out entirely in microexpressions. Her initial shock was expressed by the small 'o' shape her mouth took on before her lips pursed together in frustration. She gaped like a fish a singular time before shutting her mouth again as she reconsidered what she was about to say.

 _Kids._ Naruto mused, the word itself enough to adequately surmise his thoughts. Young, inexperienced, and constantly riding the line between foolhardy confidence and crippling anxiety. You'd think two states of being so clearly on opposite ends of the spectrum would have a bolder line of separation between them.

Not with kids.

"W-well," Weiss stammered, biting her lip with a flash of annoyance at her stutter. "About Team One's leadership…"

"Right, that _is_ why you came to see me after all," Naruto acknowledged the topic somewhat pointedly. Weiss flushed, but did not deny it. He sighed before pressing on. "Before I started off on this tangent I mentioned steps, remember?" Weiss nodded. "I did that for a reason. Steps are why I didn't choose you for the role of leader."

Though true, Naruto was aware the answer wasn't satisfying. Weiss' face also served to remind him of that if he'd otherwise taken leave of his senses. As much as he wanted to tell her why he made his decision, nix this conversation and call it a day, Naruto knew that inundating Weiss with facts wouldn't change her opinion. A flood of words — no matter how right — usually failed to change a person's world view by themselves.

The best he could do was plant a seed. "What do you think is the most important thing a leader can have?"

Weiss' brow creased as she contemplated his question. After mulling over a few ideas she posed her answer. "The ability to assess a situation and come up with an appropriate response."

Naruto couldn't have hoped for a better answer. Not for his purposes. "And you're wrong."

"W-wrong?" Weiss stuttered. "I think that may be a subjective matter, Professor."

"You think? Let me ask you a question, then," And he hoped it would be enough to buy Jaune a little time. "What's harder to learn? The abilities a leader need possess or the ability to inspire? I believe Jaune's plan during initiation receives a pass at best, and yet you all listened to it."

"That is true but-"

"And because of your willingness to agree to his silly plan you all have passed and are now huntresses and huntsman of Beacon," Naruto reminded her, standing from his chair. "You may want to focus on the actual reasons Jaune was made your leader before telling me they are wrong. Now, if you would excuse me, I have a secret obligation to attend."

Naruto had been around the block enough times to learn how to disguise his retreats as something more. Walking up the stairs to exit his class and leaving Weiss looking stricken, he wondered if he should say something more.

 _No._ Naruto decided. _I've given her enough to figure it out herself. If she's too stubborn to do so it's on her._

That was something he'd had to force himself to learn. People weren't always — and often weren't — what he wanted them to be. To try and force change upon them because he believed it was best? Those were the actions of a dictator… or a god. Naruto refuses to be either, no matter what.

No matter how many people had treated him as one.

* * *

"You know, it's just not right," Naruto — or rather, his clone — complained. "Being a shadow clone is a rough life. Always working, never resting, and then dispelled without so much as a thanks whenever we've finished our job. There's no justice in a life like that, you know?"

Jaune tried to offer his sympathies to the clone so overworked he was currently sitting down. He failed on account of words needing oxygen to be spoken; something he didn't have much of to spare at present.

"I'm him, he's me, and we do have the same goals," Clone-Naruto continued. "But isn't that because I'm a copy of him from the moment I'm made? What if I decided to run away and work a rice paddy for the next year? Would the time I spent working the land change me? If I did then dispel, would my experiences change him? It's some real fascinating stuff to think about."

Jaune didn't give all that much of a damn about Clone-Naruto's rambling. He felt kinda bad about it since it _was_ talking about what it meant to be alive. Although Jaune didn't think about it much himself, he knew that those questions were probably important… to someone… most likely. He wasn't sure what he thought and couldn't manage to think clearly either. If he could ever figure out the answer to his questions, it wouldn't be now.

"If I was around long enough to develop a desperate personality from the boss, would dispelling me be murder? People get on about the sanctity of life and al that, right? Frankly, I don't see much of a difference between dispelling a clone that could live a perfectly good life and an abortion."

That line was absurd enough to warrant the highest amount of physical exertion Jaune could muster towards responding. "What?" He forced out, his lungs almost crackling from the effort.

"Think about it. Is a fetus really more alive than I am? I can think, feel, talk, and be a productive member of society as long as I'm around. What's the hitch on calling me human? That I require the energy of my host — the one who gave me life — to stay alive? Doesn't a baby as well?"

"I… don't know."

"Kami, you gotta get over that," Clone-Naruto complained as he stretched both his arms into the air. "It's a common thing people do to avoid harsh truths. You do know. You have to learn to speak your mind. Saying what you think is uncomfortable sometimes and you can't always take the easy way out and not think about things by saying 'I don't know'."

Jaune didn't respond with words. Instead, Clone-Naruto's arms dropped precipitously despite still being fully extended towards the tree canopy above. The drop was short and painful, ending with the clone looking down at him, casting a shadow that blocked out the beams of the setting sun not obfuscated by the canopy.

"Really? That's all you got? We've hardly been at this half an hour."

Jaune possessed the venom necessary to glare at him if not the energy required to lift his face from its newfound position buried in the dirt. "The push-ups… were a lot harder… with you on top of me."

Clone-Naruto scoffed before uncrossing his legs and stepping off Jaune's back with a bit of a hop. Having someone jump off you — while not comfortable — was nothing compared to the signals his arms were firing to his brain. His biceps were well and thoroughly convinced they were dying, making his back being used as a springboard a comparatively unimportant happening.

"Stop complaining. We'll be asking you to fight sasoris, murder-birds, and probably worse before you finish your first year. Try not to be done in by pushups and deny the greater grimm their sport."

Jaune did manage to twist his head to the side so he could glare at Clone-Naruto this time around. The physical abuse his body was making him less willing to put up with any verbal abuse, ironically giving him the will to somewhat ignore his muscle pain.

"You're a jerk."

"Mildly guilty of that," Clone-Naruto smirked. "Consider me your karmic retribution for cheating your way into Beacon."

Jaune offered a wordless grumble that couldn't decide whether it was rueful or embarrassed.

"Anywho… time for some cardio!"

The small hope he'd held that Naruto's clone would for some reason be easier to train under than the man himself made Jaune feel foolish. Nonetheless, he didn't protest the next item on what was surely a long list of training... mostly. He groaned heavily as he pawed his way off the ground and slowly strained his legs to support his weight.

Risen from the ground, Jaune felt he looked more ready for a eulogy than a run. Right as Naruto was turning his back to him to start at something he would probably consider a brusque pace, Jaune raised his hand like he would in class to try and get a professor's attention in class. Naruto was a professor, but this was not class, and so Clone-Naruto looked at him quizically.

"I uhhh… didn't actually come to you for training." Jaune admitted.

"Oh?" Clone-Naruto didn't even try and hide his surprise. Any annoyance he might have felt at the clone's surprise was mitigated at having been nearly hammered into the ground like a six-foot tall nail the day prior. He probably needed to — and would — come to Naruto for training soon. But for now- "So it's Weiss then?"

Jaune choked. The certainty Clone-Naruto spoke with made the accurate barb feel even sharper. Was it that obvious that he needed help with Weiss? Or was it that Naruto had always expected him to need help with his team?

"She's in the classroom giving the boss a hard time," Clone-Naruto answered, reading his mind. Jaune's relief must have been visible because he immediately followed up. "And we expected there to be a few complaints about your appointment. If the rest of your team is going to try and hit the boss with a list of grievances we'd appreciate a warning. I got created near the start of that conversation and I was already annoyed with it."

"She's really not that bad," Jaune defended her sheepishly.

"I didn't say she was bad. I said she's annoying," Jaune might have felt down about that if it wasn't for Clone-Naruto's grin. "That's part of the job. Dealing with stupid seventeen-year-olds who think they've gotten the world figured out is an occupational hazard. Not that there's much that _isn't_ part of the job."

"Then why didn't you make Weiss the leader?"

"Hmm?"

"If it wasn't that you didn't like her, then why?" Jaune pressed him. "She's smarter, stronger, and she's better trained-"

"Better than you? Impossible!"

"And she should be the leader of Team One," Jaune finished, ignoring the blatant sarcasm.

"Kami," Naruto groaned as he leaned against a nearby tree. "It's like you two are reading from the same script."

Considering they hadn't coordinated anything, Jaune thought that was further proof that what he was saying made sense. Not that he said that out loud.

Clone-Naruto was not impressed by his silence and shook his head exasperatedly. "Look, why don't you try assuming I'm not an idiot? Maybe, just maybe, I made you the leader of your team for a reason."

That… wasn't as easy as it sounded. The whole situation had too much Jaune was confused about for him to make sense of it. There was nothing he brought to Team One by being their leader. Weiss might not be as perfect as he'd thought she was when they first met but she was a hell of a lot more capable than he was.

Still… Jaune didn't think Naruto would have made him leader for no reason. His mentor took training seriously, had taken his class seriously, and likely had taken the formation of Team One seriously. There was a reason he was leader.

But what was it?

"Nothing?" Clone-Naruto asked. "Dumbass. You can think about it while you run, then."

Jaune was silent even though his muscles screamed in protest. A leader needed to be strong and he wasn't. If he was going to reject Pyrrha's help then he shouldn't be taking it easy on his own. He wasn't going to complain.

"Might as well run through the Emerald Forest."

"What?" Jaune almost whimpered.

"It's good for you," Clone-Naruto said with a smirk. "Unlevel terrain, tripping hazards, and having to pay attention to make sure a grimm doesn't jump on you and tear your throat out? Now that's some solid, old-fashioned training."

"Oh come on!" Jaune complained.

So much for that.

* * *

Naruto had half a mind to not attend this secret meeting he'd been called to. Port had messaged him earlier with a time, address, and an inflexible demand that he not breathe a word of either to Professor Goodwitch.

After dealing with Weiss, Naruto wanted nothing more than to call it a night and hope the white-haired witch didn't manage to invade his dreams with her honeyed words and flattery.

"Hopefully it was worth it," Naruto sighed. She'd seemed receptive at the end — listening to his words and not rejecting them the moment they'd left his mouth. It was hard to say if she'd simmer down or escalate.

Thinking about it was enough to make him want to skip out on Port's event entirely and sleep it off. Unfortunately, his clone was still out with Jaune which meant that sleep wasn't on the menu. If he had to stay awake he wished he could break open a bottle of sake and drink until his headache went away. With how much time Weiss had commandeered and how long it'd take for a bullhead to make it to Vale, Naruto knew his nightcap would have to wait.

Or so he thought. As he double-checked that the address on his scroll matched the building he'd arrived at, Naruto felt a smile creep up his face. He pushed the saloon doors open and saw his two colleagues relaxing on two stools pulled up to a polished red-oak counter. The whole room was illuminated by dull light that only served to accentuate the establishment's barrenness. It looked like he'd be getting his drink after all.

"My boy!" Port's voice boomed. Fortunately for them — and unfortunately for the owner — the place was empty enough that his volume didn't turn any of the few heads present. "I was beginning to worry you'd been captured!"

Naruto could feel the amused smile already working its way across his face. He took a seat on the barstool to Port's left. "Captured? Is that a standard Professor-of-Beacon concern?"

"Tragically so. Those little blighters are the worst this time of year. Too many are determined to corner you when you're alone and have found a moment's peace to whisper their insidious nothings at your most defenseless time. If one does not maintain a constant vigil, they will find themself kneeling at the mercy of the sin of hubris."

"Many of our students like to try and address the professors personally on the first day," Professor Oobleck translated with a weathered smile. "Too many articles written about how doing so can improve their relations with us and help improve their grade and make us more likely to give them extensions on their coursework."

"Which is true," Port admitted guiltlessly. "I wouldn't mind their audacity if they would at least have the courtesy to stagger out their approaches, but no. One after the other crashes upon you as endless waves against the bedrock of your sanity."

Naruto laughed. "You two must be more popular than me. I've managed to dodge that 'wave'."

"Did I say wave? No! I said _waves_ ," Port emphasized. "Brown-nosers are only one of the many plagues that beset us. Show-offs will compulsively act up in class. Know-it-alls will look for a single misspelling on the board and act like finding it invalidates your entire lesson," Naruto chuckled, which only inspired the moustached man to continue with growing fervor. "Not to mention the first-years complaining about team assignments for one reason or another."

Naruto flinched at the last item on his list. A fact that both Port and Professor Oobleck seemed to both notice and smugly enjoy. "Oh ho! Problems with some of the teams? Or maybe a certain team in particular?"

"I would hazard a guess that Team One is the source if your quandary," Professor Oobleck probed, laughing when Naruto's face as good as gave him confirmation. "Was it Ms. Schnee, perhaps?"

Naruto groaned, signaling the barkeep with his hand as he did. "She left my class with her team and I thought I was in the clear. She came back within the hour because she had something she 'needed' to talk to me about."

"Say no more. We've lived through it enough to not need it recounted."

Naruto sagged with relief at the knowledge he wouldn't have to relive the events in their retelling. Turning his attention forward, he placed his order "Saké, if you have it. I'll take a bottle."

The bartender nodded as he turned to his back shelf. "Ho? A Mistralean drink?" Port asked curiously.

"One of the drinks of my home," Naruto answered shortly as the bartender returned. He'd been surprised to find they made it in Remnant. Pleasantly so at that.

A decorative bottle with painted cherry blossoms was set in front of him with a glass marginally larger than an average shot. Not his standard equipment for partaking of alcohol, that was certain. After slowly and deliberately pouring himself a drink of the clear liquid, Naruto brought the glass to his lips and tasted it. The sweetness of some fruit warred with the acerbic alcohol. It reminded him of home.

He shocked the rest of the glass.

"That's the spirit!" Port cheered, following suit with his own shot of some smooth earthy colored liquid. "Damn, that's good. Another!"

Professor Oobleck nursed a tall-necked glass of wine with a smile. "I assume Ms. Schnee was rather confused why she wasn't made their leader? Did she ask outright or-"

"Did she take the longest possible detour to get to the damn point?" Naruto filled in while he poured himself another drink. While he didn't down this one in a single go, it was about three-quarters finished by the time he lowered it from his lips. "I'll let you guess."

"You obviously aren't surprised that it happened. Ms. Schnee's propensity for power was one of the reasons you passed on her as leader, was it not?"

Naruto sighed. Oobleck was right about that. "One of them, at least."

"Pah! Enough of that! We've managed to escape that school and I'll be damned if I let you two poison the night by talking about it," Port spit the words out and then turned his head to Naruto. "My boy, I must know, is it true that you were a teacher before you came here?"

"Odd choice of topic for someone trying to escape the discussion of school…"

Naruto chuckled. "I was a teacher," At one point, anyways. After he ceded his position as Hokage there wasn't as much to occupy his day to day. Teaching had been an enjoyable refrain for a time. "I did take a break from it. The past few years I've spent exploring Remnant."

"Archeological exploration?" Professor Oobleck almost panted.

"Keep it in your pants, Bart," Port chastised his co-worker. "We have far more important things to discuss than ancient history," He turned his head back to Naruto, dodging a withering glare from his bespectacled friend. "If you were a teacher that must mean you have a few drinking games where you're from."

He definitely did. Naruto knew the Elemental Nations were home to many, many, _many_ drinking games. Unfortunately for Port… "None that I can remember the rules to. I wasn't one for those type of games."

"Damn…" Port cursed, his tone entirely too bitter for the topic at hand. "You taught children without good drinking games? Are you a saint?"

"I wouldn't call myself a saint," Naruto laughed. The very action felt brittle in his throat. He could tell his colleagues noticed and sidestepped. "Though we did have some sort of game. There weren't any particular rules; more that we would drink until we forgot we had students. It worked better than expected most of the time."

"How unfortunate," Professor Oobleck sagged. "I was hoping for more cultural diversity in our coping mechanisms."

"How fortunate, you mean. A professor who drinks til the nagging voices of students finally desists is a professor of Beacon!"

With that declaration, Port ordered them all a round of a drink called bourbon. It was a strong drink tasting of cinnamon and aged wood. At least that was what Naruto thought that peculiar taste was. Port bragged about the aging process in hardwood casks at least three times in as many rounds of shots.

Having partaken in Port's preference of drink, Professor Oobleck insisted his drink be next on the list. The blackest of coffee mixed with the strongest of gin practically singed the roof of Naruto's mouth as it went down. The caffeine worked its way through his system like a shot of life as the alcohol continued to steadily rob him of bodily control and mental function.

Talks of work and life descended into what alcohol paired best with Professor Oobleck's detestable taste in only the strongest of coffees. The moustached man boldly ordered three separate rounds of coffee mixed with rum, whiskey, and of course, bourbon.

He insisted — much to Professor Oobleck's vehement disagreement — that bourbon coffee had proven the best.

By the time they were comparing peach saké to plum they had had many more drinks and were far gone enough that they didn't have any right to be judging the hard work of whoever made it.

Not that it stopped them. "Ze peach zaké feelzz fake," Port complained. "Like it was made in a factory. Thissss plum ssstuff though… it's just like a liquid plum made of alcoholz. It's like zey managed to squeeze a plum into zhe bottle. Howzhey do that?"

"Maybe…" Professor Oobleck paused. The two of them waited... And waited… and waited. "A special type of alcoholic plum?"

"Geniussssss!... that explainz everytin…"

Naruto laughed openly at the two of them. Though well and truly buzzed, he was nowhere near as catatonic as Port. He would, however, have to cede that his inhibitions might have been on the fritz.

"Seeing you two like this is a relief. Teaching at Beacon can't be so bad if this is all it takes for the two of you to get there."

That Port was to the point of slurring almost half his words while Oobleck's neck allowed his head to move almost entirely with the momentum of his body was a sign that they probably weren't the most serious of drinkers.

Naruto wasn't exactly an alcoholic himself, rather his tolerance was an unfortunate side effect of a chakra-based countermeasure he'd come up with for being poisoned. He'd gotten into the habit of maintaining it at all points. That wasn't so bad considering he could simply choose to stop doing it. The problem was that past a certain point of inebriation he soon found himself sober again. A healthy buzz like he had now was frankly the most he could do to keep up with his fast fading co-workers.

He had to admit to being surprised. One look at Port would have given anyone the impression that the man could hold his liquor better than this.

"Teamz one…. HA!" Port barked laughter sounded more like an actual bark. "Zats a ztupid name."

Naruto growled at him. "Not my fault the team naming was impossible. It's not like you lot came up with anything either."

"Zat's not trooooo." Port protested with a strange offendedness.

Naruto wasn't sure what he meant by that. They'd all tried to come up with a name for Jaune's team together. Was he remembering wrong? Did immortals get senile? Or, as was much more likely, was this just the stubborn pride of a drunken man?

Naruto would have been willing to put a month's salary on the third option until Professor Oobleck 'interrupted' a full seven seconds later. "Peter! Don't tell him!"

"Oh… right."

"No no no," Naruto was having none of that. "You don't get to say something like that and not tell me."

"Yeah… yoo right…"

Five seconds later. "Peter! You musn't!"

"Right…"

It was hard to have a staring contest with Professor Oobleck with those ridiculous spectacles he wore. When you looked at him dead-on his eyes were perfectly concealed, preventing any attempts at gleaning his intent.

His head swaying like a broken bobblehead wasn't helping things either.

Driven by nothing more than run-of-the-mill curiosity, Naruto prepared for war against his green-haired colleague. After careful consideration, he chose his battlecry.

"Can we get another round of bourbon?"

Fifteen minutes and a healthy amount of lien was all he had to spend to break the stalemate.

"Imma man of honour!" Peter declared loudly. "I muzszt confess to my sinz!"

Nine seconds later — confirming Naruto's theory that more booze would push both their ridiculous tics further. "You can't do it! It's for his own good!"

"Maybe it is, I couldn't say," Naruto shrugged, calming both Port and Professor Oobleck down. "I can say I haven't known many men of honour that would hide behind the guise of a lie."

Considering his village, friends, mentors, leaders, his generation of shinobi, the generation of shinobis prior, and just about every other criteria that one could use to judge a lie, that was a lie that required a supreme level of willpower to say with a straight face.

But hey, it worked. "Zhe man speakkzzhe truth! I must confesz!"

"Confess what?" Naruto had no intention of waiting the howevermany seconds would be needed for Professor Oobleck to interject.

"We-"

"You mustn't tell him!" For once Professor Oobleck had timed his words perfectly. Or rather Naruto had a feeling that was a response to Port saying he needed to confess that happened to

"I muzt do dis Bart!" Port yowled. "I muzt clear my concihefn." He turned to Naruto, his drunkenness not really showing itself in the way he squared his body and breathed deep. Naruto didn't speak, hoping the beans would be spilled before a certain meddling professor could process the thoughts necessary to react. "Zhe truuf iz… we knew zhe names…"

"Don't do it!... Drats!"

The gears of Naruto's brain didn't exactly grind to a halt. No, he was able to process what he thought the drunken mess known as Port meant. What he wasn't able to do — or rather, willing to do — was accept it.

Hoping against hope, Naruto asked. "What do you mean, 'knew the names'?"

"It'z an initi… initiaz… imitation..."

"Initiation?"

"Zats the one!"

"New professors historically have difficulty naming their first team," Professor Oobleck explained, resigning himself to the reality that the truth would eventually out. Better it be from a coherent presenter than the muddled interpretation of whatever Port was saying. "It's a common practice to give a new teacher a singular team to name in order to ease that burden. However, if the new professor is still to fail, we suggest a name that is either embarassing specifically to them or embarassing in general."

"And yurz was too generic!" Port added. "So Ozzz had to give a speech and make it wurst. For yur own goodz."

"... Quite right. I believe the headmaster's intention was to add aggravation to the usual humiliation by siccing young Ms. Schnee on you. Team AWBN, or Team Auburn, was readily available and yet you didn't see it because of its use of the 'w' sound over the letter itself. A common mistake, and one we've all made at some point or another, I assure you."

"Yeah… Team One… Ha-urk!" Port laughed and snorted at the same time.

Naruto's face could have been chiseled out of marble. If an art student was looking for a model to best capture the emotion of petty fury they'd need look no further if they saw Naruto's blue eyes looking like chips of glacial ice in their sockets. The way his face stretched and the whisker marks on his cheeks seemed to bolden gave him a look of devilishness.

All valid warning signs that went ignored courtesy of alcohol.

"I understand," Naruto nodded, his face returning to normal with a smile. "A little office hazing is nothing out of the ordinary."

"Iz our way of welcoming you to family!"

"We truly had no ill intent. It was done for your own good."

"And cuz it was funny."

A vein in Naruto's forehead flecked. It had been many, _many_ years since someone thought they could trifle with him. Somehow the novelty of such an experience was lost on him. "We can't forget that, can we? Funny… ha ha," He raised his hand, signaling the bartender. "You know, we did actually have one drinking game. I wasn't going to bring it up since it's a little intense, but since we're _family_ now."

Port beamed. "Hoho! Zat's the spirit!"

Naruto whispered something to the barkeep who then disappeared into the back. While Port didn't suspect a thing, worry was beginning to dawn on Professor Oobleck.

And so it should have. The bartender returned with an eighty-proof vodka.

"Some of the men I worked with had a little game they liked to play to prove themselves," Naruto explained as the barkeep poured three double-shots. "It's kind of hard to translate… but I think it would be something like **the person who quits drinking is a coward.** "

Recognition cut through Port's drunken stupor. His small, beady eyes squinted at his now opponent as the man seemed to sober in an instant. "Oh? I get a little drunk and you think you can challenge me, Boy?"

"Now now everyone. Let's not be too hasty," Professor Oobleck tried to defuse the bomb that was already exploding. "I know Peter might have acted drunk, but I've never once seen him hungover. His ability to process alcohol is almost a semblance in itself!"

"The man is right, Boy. I've never been hungover a day in my life. I might lose my head from time to time, but never does my body betray me the next day. I'll tell you what, Bart; I'll do the gentlemanly thing and give our young, rambunctious buck a chance to back out before he does something he regrets."

Naruto stared down Port with more intensity than he would a shinobi on the battlefield. In one, smooth motion he picked up the shot placed in front of him, downed it, and slammed it on the bar counter.

"I guess that means you won't be the coward, then?

Port followed suit, slamming his glass down even harder once he'd finished. "I guess not."

Naruto had dealt with Weiss for far longer than any saint would have had the patience for. Learning that it was because of some practical joke because he was new? Oh, those responsible would pay for this. He'd get to Ozpin in due time. For now? Well, he was always the kind of man to deal with the problem in front of him.

"I happily concede my cowardice and duck out of this competition-"

"Nonsense!" Port grabbed the remaining shot, stabilized Professor Oobleck's neck, and forced the drink down. "We are proud professors of Beacon Academy. Steel yourself, Bart. There will be no cowards among our ranks!"

Professor Oobleck whimpered.

"Another round," Naruto signaled the barkeep.

"Yes, another!"

No man, myth, nor groaning protest from a certain professor could halt the holy combat that now ensued. It ensued as most prolific wars often do; two sides engaged in a bitter contest of pride while unwilling participants are forced into joining the fray.

It didn't take long for the second round of shots to hit Naruto. Focusing his chakra, he cleansed the toxin meddling with his system until he was sober once more. For forcing Weiss upon him he would have his revenge. It wouldn't stop at a hangover, oh no. They'd both have alcohol poisoning by the time he was done with them.

Their aura should keep them alive at the very least.

"Another!"

"ANOTHER!"

"No more…"

* * *

Jaune walked — or rather, limped — back to Team One's dorm after an expectedly grueling training session with Naruto's clone. That was… fine, Jaune rationalized to make the pain he was in feel worth it. He was weak, he was a leader, and he definitely needed all the help he could get from Naruto.

That was just it. He hadn't gotten the help he'd wanted with how to deal with how his team was acting towards Weiss. Clone-Naruto had repeated the same thing over and over again.

" _Weiss has something you don't. Figure out what that is and you'll understand why you're the leader."_

What the heck did that mean?! Weiss had a billion things he didn't. That's why _she_ should be the leader of Team One. How the heck was he supposed to know what Naruto was talking about? On top of that, why would not having something make him understand why he was supposed to be the leader?

"I don't get it," Jaune groaned. He would have waved a fist at whatever god there was were it not for the fact that would involve using his arm to raise that fist.

 _It's funny how the reason you've the right to lead is the same reason you'll never figure it out._

What was it that stopped Jaune from moving? Was it the voice? The scampering paws and claws that climbed up his hoodie and nestled around his neck? Maybe it was the rows of sharpened teeth grinning so close to his neck.

Most likely it was knowing what all those things had in common.

"Kurama? W-what are you doing here?"

 _Here? I've been watching you for the better part of your little exercise._ The fox yawned. That maw of daggered fangs opening inches away from his neck did not supply any great feeling of comfort for Jaune. _Having taken your physical ineptitude into consideration, it's sad to say that you appear to have an even greater lacking towards challenges of the mind. Maybe that isn't entirely true… your plan against the armored grimm wasn't terrible._

Kurama mused for a few seconds before continuing. _To answer your question as you intended it; I'm here because you've grasped nothing and will continue to grasp nothing if left to your own devices. While my partner might believe that allowing people to work things out on their own is essential, I disagree. If you left a brat with a pouch full of shuriken, would he learn how to throw them? Perhaps some would and be better for having done it themselves. The rest of the untalented morons would poke out their eyes and anyone else's foolish enough to approach them. I see no problem substituting the ideas of a moron with my own wisdom._

Jaune couldn't say he liked the comparisons being drawn to him in Kurama's metaphor. He didn't know if he agreed with the mindset either. As little as he liked those things, necessity trumped pride. He wasn't figuring anything out on his own and at this rate he was going to return to his team for more of the same problem.

"You're right. I don't get it," Jaune stomached his shame. "What the heck does he mean by saying something I don't have can make me a leader? Weiss is smart, strong, and she's nice… when people are nice to her. She'd make a much better leader if everyone would listen to her."

 _In most cases, yes._ Kurama agreed. _Annoying though I find her, she has all the qualities you'd want in a leader. Strength, decisiveness, desire._

That stopped Jaune in his tracks. "Wait, you're agreeing with me?"

 _Of course. Did you think we saw your little plan against the sasori and thought you some unpolished tactical genius?_

He hadn't thought that specifically… probably. Maybe he had? Why else would they want him to be the leader?!

 _The limited ability for planning you showed the most basic of aptitudes for leadership. True, Naruto would never have made you leader without it. That it is the reason you find yourself the leader of team one? That couldn't be further from the truth._

"Okay… what is the reason?"

 _You lack something she has. While I probably would have made that bratty child the team leader in spite of it, Naruto disdains of this particular trait's presence. So much so that he would consider it in your team's favor to bet on your growing into a leader over any other option. The girl doesn't lack positives, she possesses a strong negative_

"And that is?" Jaune asked. He was tired and not willing to dance around the issue any longer. "Are you going to tell me?"

 _If you wish._ Kurama agreed. Jaune felt it was almost too easy. Was this the same fox that watched him with blatant sadism during their travels? _You have no ego._

"No e-"

 _Yes, no ego._ Kurama stopped him with a glare that left his blood cold. _Repeating back everything one says in question form is the sign of an idiot._

Jaune zipped his lips and it was only eighty percent because Kurama still scared him.

Kurama took his silence as sign to forge ahead. _Would you ever make your team leap into danger to try and impress someone?_

"What? No!"

 _Would Weiss?_

Jaune turned his head to look Kurama in the eyes. "Of course not."

 _That's fine if you think so._ Kurama said with a total lack of interest. _It doesn't really matter, for what of your teammates? Do they hold the same esteem for the girl as you do?_

Blake and Pyrrha? Jaune wanted to say yes… he wanted to, but knew it would be a lie. The two girls had made their opinion of Weiss known, even if he didn't understand all the reasons.

 _I believe Naruto said it adequately in your class. A team of strong members will do better rallying around an idiot's plan than bickering over which of them is most right. Would your team ever follow Weiss in the heat of battle? Perhaps. Maybe the short one would grow into the role and learn the humility it requires. It's also possible continued exposure would make your team more willing to accept her and her ego and follow her regardless. Would you all live long enough for that to happen? Who knows? My partner wasn't willing to take the chance._

And that was all Kurama had to say on the topic. The fox jumped down from his shoulders, stretched, and lazily left down the hallway. Kurama did what he wanted, said what he wanted, and left when things no longer interested him. Jaune had a million questions for the fox and it didn't matter. Kurama was done with their conversation, and so their conversation was done.

That left him to figure things out on his own. Would Blake and Pyrrha undercut Weiss if she was the leader because they didn't get along? He didn't think so. Kind of like in a comic-book he'd learned a bit about the two of them fighting by their side. He was obviously the least qualified huntsman around, yet they'd all listened to his plan to beat the deathstalker. Or, in Blake's case, came through when it counted.

He believed that was because they were good people. Pyrrha had been nothing but nice to him. They weren't the kind of petty you'd need to be to sabotage a leader. Though that wasn't what Kurama had said, was it? Jaune tried to look at things with a more neutral point of view. Would they trust Weiss?

Not now. Maybe once they saw the same Weiss he did they'd come around. Or, as Kurama so helpfully pointed out, _if_ they ever saw Weiss as he did. Until then, they'd always doubt any decision she made.

"Better to rally around an idiot…" Jaune murmured to himself.

Was that it? He'd been stuck on the idea of what made him better than Weiss so much so that he'd be picked above her. He hadn't been able to think of a thing. And then this… was the only reason he was made leader that he was well liked?

Jaune's feet carried him to the dorm while his mind wandered. With his being new to the school that meant he got a little lost on his way back. That didn't bother him much. He felt a little lost too. He wasn't sure where to go from here… he wasn't sure what to d-

"Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?!"

"W-weiss?" Jaune stammered, his head swiveling to try and locate the source of the sound he'd already identified. It didn't take him long as she was dead ahead.

The white-haired girl was rapidly making her way towards him in the same school uniform she'd been wearing since morning. The rapidity of her clicking heels on the hallway tiles a sign of her small gait. A straight corridor was all that separated them. Jaune didn't flee, nor did he approach her. He waited like a scarecrow until she was upon him. He didn't realize until she was less than ten feet away from him that he was scared. He didn't have any words ready for her yet. Not for Pyrrha or Blake either, but least of all her.

"I couldn't return to our room without you. You do know that, right?" Weiss' question sounded more like an accusation as she poked a pointed finger to his chest.

He did know. Pyrrha had an almost constant bone to pick with Weiss. And while Blake wasn't actively pushing against her, she'd made it clear that Weiss was not, and would not be her leader.

"I'm sorry," Jaune apologized.

It was an apology for letting her believe he was something more than a teenager with a dream of being something great. An apology for accidentally stealing the role as Team One's leader that should have belonged to her. He had a lot of things to apologize for.

But this was what he felt he needed to apologize for most. "I'm sorry, but you can't be our leader."

Light-blue eyes blinked with confusion. It would have been funny seeing her so clearly caught off guard were it not for everything surrounding this. "I thought you wanted me to be our leader?"

"Wanted?" Jaune laughed sadly. "Try want. I want you to be the leader. You'd be way better at it than I would, that's for sure… but I'm not sure it can happen."

He walked towards the corridor wall on his left, pressed his back to it, and slowly slid towards the ground. His uniform's suit jacket, worn and battered from his excursions with Naruto's clone, creased and crinkled the further he sank. When he hit the bottom Weiss looked at him for a second, just one, before following suit beside him, tucking her skirt underneath her as she did.

"Honestly, I don't think I'm cut out to be our leader," Jaune confessed. "I'm not prepared or confident like you are. You could give my sword and shield to a random guy on Vale's streets and probably end up with a better leader than I am."

"You're hardly that hopeless," Weiss scoffed lightly. "If you think more than fifty percent of Vale would have availed themselves against the deathstalker as well as you did, you're absolutely daft."

Jaune chuckled, shaking his head before letting it thunk softly against the wall. "That's only because you were there to talk some sense into me. I was useless in that fight until you snapped me out of it."

Weiss hummed her agreement. She might have been agreeing with his admission of uselessness, yet the sound was pleasant and relaxing to his ears.

They didn't speak any words for a while. Jaune didn't know what words to give at a time like this. The only sound was the gentle thrum of the lights above.

"You do know that I never thought you'd be a bad leader, don't you?" Weiss asked without looking at him.

"I thought that's what all this was about; me being a crappy leader and you being a great one."

Weiss shook her head, rejecting the very idea. Her ponytail tracing the arc of the motion. "My opinion of my leadership was always a factor, but never did I think you'd be terrible at the job. Merely inferior to myself."

"You're too kind," Jaune deadpanned, his exhaustion helping him give Weiss a very unimpressed look.

"I know."

The simple and matter of fact way she said it overpowered everything else and made Jaune laugh in earnest. Weiss didn't join him entirely, though she did smile a bit because of it.

"Beacon hasn't been what I expected it to be, that's for sure," Jaune sighed, coming down from what was probably the height of his joy that day.

"Beacon hasn't been what _you_ expected it to be? I'll have to explain to my father, and worse, my own sister why not only was I not made leader, but both myself and Pyrrha Nikos were passed up by some featless country-boy with no pedigree."

"I'm sor-"

"Which is why I expect you to be a leader they'll fail to find a single qualm with," Weiss interrupted him. A coy smile played on her lips as her light-blue eyes turned to catch his. "And you must understand that whatever rubric you intend to judge yourself by will be woefully insufficient to the standards of my family. As such, I'll have to both judge and assist you myself to avoid any further embarrassment than I've already incurred."

Jaune was never what you'd call a man of words. In his eyes, the more time he spoke the more time his foot had to find its way in his mouth. Still, he'd never found himself robbed for words quite like he did now.

"Weiss… I-"

"Am not a leader, unconfident, and several other types of incompetent, yes?" She asked. Not that she had any intention of waiting for a response. "Then you are fortunate to have me as a teammate for I am none of those things. I'm not going to lie and tell you I'm fine with being passed up for leader because I'm not."

"So I'll have to settle for molding you into a leader I'm happy with."

Jaune didn't know what kind of expression he had on his face when he looked at Weiss. If the light-rosy blush that worked up Weiss' face was any indication, it was probably a stupid one.

"I'm not so bullheaded as not to notice how you've been defending me from our teammates," She added when it became clear Jaune had no words to give. "You came through when we needed you in the Emerald Forest as well. I criticized your leadership because it wasn't _my_ leadership… I never meant to imply I thought you'd be incompetent."

"I thought you did," Jaune said hoarsely. Because really, she should.

"I've… been thinking about Professor Uzumaki's lesson," Weiss said that like it was an admittance. "Even if I was correct to say I would be a better leader than you-"

"Which you are."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "If you insist. Does it matter? How would my superior skillset help me head a team I'm not comfortable walking into the living quarters of by myself?"

Jaune winced. Through all their squabbles, Weiss hadn't shown that Pyrrha was getting to her. He'd thought the explanation as to how the simple fact that she was made of stronger stuff than he was. It looked like she was just better at hiding her insecurities.

"It isn't simply that," Weiss continued. "I might have the ability to direct our team if asked to do it, but it's just that. Nobody has asked me to do it. Power and ability are surprisingly meaningless if you don't have the means to control them."

"I…" Jaune started without really thinking about it. With those words, everything Clone-Naruto had told him, everything Kurama had said, the meaning behind Naruto's lesson. It clicked. "I don't think I can let you be our leader."

For better or far more likely worse, he'd been chosen as the leader of Team One. By their teachers and by his team.

"I'm afraid you can't," Weiss agreed with a mighty sigh. "Not much to be done about it besides molding you into one as suited for leadership as I am… or close, at the very least. Training you to match me would be too much, even for myself."

That joke was the rock to break the veritable windowpane of tension that had built over his day. It was a glass formed because of Weiss and was now shattered by her hand as well. It was strange how he appreciated her far more for dispelling his woes than he did creating them.

He liked her for that. He liked her a lot.

"Let's get back to our team," Jaune decided to take charge. "I'm ready to call it a night."

And it was instantly wrenched from his hands. "Call it a night? You must be joking," Weiss scoffed. "You might be our leader in name, but I've no intention of resting until you are a leader in every sense of the world. Tonight you shall learn the five principles for mediation and problem solving as laid out by the famous behavioral psychologist Matthias La'Guard."

"W-what?"

"Fret not," Weiss assured him, rising to her feet and dusting off her skirt. "Although a full lesson on the subject would likely consume three hours, I believe I can manage to condense it to a more manageable timeframe."

Relief flooded Jaune's everything. It was late, he was tired, and the last thing he wanted was to stay up any longer than he already had. Still, he was the leader of Team One now, both officially and by group consensus. Staying up a little longer was something he'd have to accept.

"There's a section of the third principle that's a bit wordy and the fifth principle has part that is redundant if you were paying attention during the second. If I shave those out, we should be able to cut out seventeen superfluous minutes."

Jaune froze. _What? Seventeen minus- no wait. One times three is three hours. Three times… how many minutes are in an hour again?_

Far too many for a mere seventeen minute saving to have any meaningful impact.

"Weiss, come on! Can't we do this tomorrow?" Jaune's begging probably wasn't doing much to paint him as a leader right now, but he was desperate!

"I suppose…" Weiss mused as she offered her hand to help him up. Jaune heaved a sigh of a relief and took it, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. Careless from the belief he'd found reprieve, Jaune didn't notice Weiss' hand dart like a viper and grab a fist full of the shirt around his wrist. "Not! You are the leader of Team One and if you were having even the beginnings of a thought to cede your leadership to me you must be unconfident. Pay attention to my lesson and I'll make sure that you pass the first test."

"Test?!"

"I obviously have to verify you were paying attention by some means. Worry not, of the hundred questions I believe a good quarter of them will be multiple choice."

The small and dainty hand grabbed on tighter than a beowolf's maw as Weiss began to drag him back to their dorm.

"No- Weiss! Stop! You can't do this!"

Weiss begged to differ as she continued to march him through the halls of Beacon like a disobedient puppy. He whined, hollered, and complained until Weiss shot him a glare so forceful that he stopped protesting altogether. The first hurdle of Team One had finally been cleared. Now that Weiss had recognized him, Jaune was their team's undisputed leader.

"Hurry up! Stop dragging your feet!"

But when it came to the two of them, Weiss was still very much in charge.

* * *

 ** _I enjoy writing Weiss in this story. It's interesting to have Pyrrha be more of a problem point in this fic when she's basically nothing but positive in OFNT. I think that's part of the joy of writing different stories; characters who are in the backdrop in one can come to the forefront in another. Not Ruby, though. I can write solutions to Blake's stupidity. Ruby's bizarre split of childishness and old woman wisdom is core to her character and not something I enjoy the thought of exploring. Kudos to those who do and to each his own._**

 ** _Cookies and social awkwardness do not a best-girl make._**


	10. Balance

**_Greeting and salutations! A chapter in under a week? Incredible! I'm trying to get back to writing consistently and this is my recent experiment with that. This chapter of F &C takes some of the focus off Jaune as we delve a little more into the Fox of the story. I'll be trying to update next week as well as I want that mad money that comes with a consistent upload schedule._**

 ** _'mad money' may be a misnomer._**

 ** _Watching RWBY season 6 is on my to do list. I've been reading over synopsis to make sure I'm not messing up continuity. Some stuff I like in s6, much more stuff I don't. **S6 spoiler** I feel the Ozma/Salem thing could be seen a mile away. The only thing I was more sure of than that is that Pyrrha comes back to life in some way. **S6 spoiler end** I do hope that when I watch it the season starts to redeem 4 and 5 for me. I don't know if my heart can handle another season 5._**

 ** _Anywho, off to the races!_**

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

 **Balance**

Improvement was easier to achieve the closer to rock bottom you were when you started. Nothing embodied that quite as well as the personal relationships between the members of Team One. While Jaune had gotten off to a fairly good start with each and every one of his teammates through some divine providence, that hadn't translated over well to the rest of them. Weiss and Pyrrha had gotten off on the wrong foot… that was the phrasing Jaune had decided to use put a positive spin on it, at least. Their interactions, especially from Pyrrha's end, defined the term 'frosty'.

To Jaune's immense relief it turned out that all hope was not lost! One week in, the two finally had their first markedly positive interaction. After Weiss trounced Sky Lark of CRDL in Professor Goodwitch's class, Pyrrha congratulated her. Weiss thanked her in turn. It was incredible!

And while the fact that it was an undeniable improvement between the two was tragic in its own way, Jaune had resolved to think of it positively.

The problem of the hour was that the small exchange was still leaps and bounds better than what Jaune had managed himself. Dragging himself up the stairs towards his seat, he collapsed in his chair where Pyrrha offered him a consolatory pat on the shoulder.

"Nice one!" Nora congratulated him. He would have thought she was joking were it not for the genuine beaming smile she wore as she said it. After being absolutely slaughtered by Cardin Winchester, the only thing worth celebrating was that it was finally over. "You got a good hit on him that time!"

"I did?"

"Yeah! You hit his shoulder. Remember?"

He didn't. Had he managed to get a hit in and just not realized it?

 _That makes me feel a bit better… I think?_

"That wasn't a hit!" Weiss clearly knew what Nora was talking about where he didn't. Her seething annoyance was a neon billboard telling him that any celebration had been entirely misguided. "He tripped and ran his face into Winchester's shoulder!"

 _Ah… that._ Jaune grimaced. That had been anything but intentional. Cardin had swung his giant mace-thing at his face after knocking his shield away. He'd tried so hard to get his shield back into position that he swung out, tripped, and fell forward, miraculously avoiding the hit by accidentally pushing into Cardin and thereby out of his strike zone.

His face had then become closely acquainted with Cardin's pauldron, which was the 'hit' Nora was referring to.

" _He_ ran _his_ face into Cardin," Nora quoted her words back at her. "AKA, he hit Cardin."

"Yea! Go Jaune!" Ruby cheered. Jaune let his head fall flat onto the desk, shame overtaking him.

He immediately lifted his head and dropped it again, feeling that once was not enough.

"You really have improved," Pyrrha assured him with a smile. "You didn't last half as long in your first spar again Cardin."

"I spent twice as long getting my butt kicked. Yay…"

"It's fine," His partner insisted. "Everyone starts somewhere. You shouldn't compare yourself-"

Jaune tuned her out. Not willfully — he'd never do that to Pyrrha or anyone else on his team — but it happened nonetheless as his doubt spoke in his ear. He was the leader of Team One? What a joke. He hadn't managed to shave ten percent off Cardin's aura according to the scoreboard Professor Goodwitch had broadcasting to the entire class. What an embarrassment he must have been to his team. Everyone else on Team One had won every fight they'd been called for in the first week. The only failure — _failures —_ on their team belonged to him.

Their leader.

"Uggggggghhh," Yang's groan pulled attention to her and thankfully dragged Jaune's thoughts out of the muck along with it. "Can someone tell me I've had a lapse of sanity?"

Ruby blinked innocently. "Of course, Yang. You're always crazy."

Yang bit down on her sister's head like a beowolf, holding it in place with her hands while she gnawed on Ruby's scalp. The young team leader immediately covered her mouth with her hands before squealing as she tried to thrash free. Considering this was Professor Goodwitch's class, Jaune thought Ruby's choice to prioritize a quiet imprisonment over a loud escape showed she had her priorities in the right order.

"What I was saying," Yang said after spitting a few strands of Ruby's hair from her mouth after her sister had been thoroughly punished. "Was could someone please tell me that I'm remembering wrong and that our next class will be taught by a hunky blond?"

Blake was the one to answer, though she didn't take her eyes off her book to do so. "I heard some students talking about his class at lunch today. It seems Professor Port has recovered from his sniffles, as has Professor Oobleck."

"Crap!"

"Darn…" Ruby echoed her sister's disappointment. The two of them weren't the only ones in their group expressing such thoughts on the matter.

Aside from the first day of classes, both History and Grimm Studies had been taught to them by one of Naruto's clones. A rather irate Professor Goodwitch had informed them during first period of their second day that both Professors Oobleck and Port had come down with a bad case of the sniffles. The illness had apparently been so bad that the two were bedridden the rest of the week and the weekend as well if rumors were true.

"His teachings on the grimm were surprisingly well informed," Ren remarked.

"Why's that surprising?" Ruby asked. "Don't most huntsmen know a lot about the grimm? It's like, their job!"

"Most huntsmen don't call nevermores 'big birds'," Weiss dryly pointed out. "Nor do they address grimm as tusky pigs, or black bears-"

"He stopped calling ursa that," Nora interrupted, earning her a sideways glance from Weiss.

"Only because I pointed out to him that black bears are an actual animal."

"And 'big black bears' isn't much better," Blake added with a sigh.

While it was undeniable that Naruto was quickly becoming something of a favorite amongst the student body, the consensus of his complete lack of common sense was easily keeping pace. The worst part was that news of his mentor's unfortunate quirks weren't even the most problematic thing taking Beacon by storm. There was, in Jaune's mind, a far more serious epidemic.

Exhibit A. "Who cares what he calls them? I could listen to him talk for hours..." Yang's voice tapered off as her face was overtaken by a goofy grin.

Weiss didn't have the energy left to look scandalized. She'd been fighting an uphill battle against Yang on the virtues of professionalism since Team Rain's blonde had started talking like this… which was the second day of class. Horrifying to both Weiss and Jaune, Yang was no longer alone in that endeavor.

"H-he's a really good teacher," Ruby squeaked.

" _Really_ good," Yang agreed. "I could listen to him talk about his mushrooms allllll day."

As Weiss rounded on Yang, receiving a deathly glare from Professor Goodwitch in the process, Jaune had to acknowledge that considering their previous lesson, the mischevious blonde could have meant what she said in an entirely innocent way. _Did_ he believe that?

Not even a little bit.

* * *

A class of students sprawled out in front of him. Tens of pairs of eyes staring him down. Kurama's tail bounced slightly from the long strides he was taking towards his desk. Naruto reached into a burlap sack sitting atop his desk, rummaged around, and withdrew something from its depths.

"Would you eat this?" Naruto asked his class, holding up a golden-brown mushroom for the entire class to see. The overhead lighting revealed the glistening slimy sheen for the class to see. It had a rounded top and a micro-porous sponge underbelly.

"No chance in hell," Coco Adel answered with a shiver. "That thing looks gross."

Naruto rolled his eyes. _Kids._ "It isn't. What you're calling gross is something of a mucus this butterball mushroom produces to fight infections. That slime is nature's immune system, and by consequence," Naruto deposited the mushroom into his mouth, giving a more pronounced roll of his eyes towards the few members of his class who retched. "Is completely edible, even raw in some cases."

Naruto was happy to see that not every student had the same reaction as Coco. "Couldn't you cook the mushroom before eating it?" Fox asked.

"Naturally. Cooking fungus is the way to go ninety-nine percent of the time. It takes the risk-factor down to virtually zero. However, if you ever run into a situation where a fire would be too conspicuous or potentially risky in some way, it's good to know you have the option."

Fox nodded. "Are all butterball mushrooms edible raw?"

"Now that's a great question, not to mention what I was just about to get to," Naruto praised Fox as he found another butterball in the sack and pulled it out. "The first thing you want to do with a mushroom is to check the cap and underneath it for any sign of rot. If there's no rot, or if you think there's enough viable mushroom to salvage, cut its stem as far down as you can. Normally, the stem is edible and therefor food that you shouldn't be throwing out."

Naruto pulled a kunai from his waist-satchel and brought it to the stem of the mushroom, shaving about a quarter-inch off.

"After you've made an incision to the stem, check for any holes in it. Holes in the stem means you shouldn't eat it until it's cooked."

Looking at the stem and indeed finding holes, Naruto set the mushroom on his desk.

"Why?" Another student asked.

"Plenty of animals and insects consume fungi. Holes in the stem means something ate its way up the stem and is probably still rummaging around the cap somewhere. Not something you want to eat raw."

"Not something I want to eat at all!" Coco shouted before shivering in her seat. "Especially not if there's bugs in it."

Naruto shrugged. "As long as you're cooking it properly beforehand, most insects are a good protein source. If you have the food supply to be picky then be my guest. This is a lesson for the times when you don't."

The rumblings of conversation that worked their way through the students was something Naruto had expected. He leaned against his desk, partially sitting on it as he waited for the kids to work out their jitters. Soon enough, they had. At least to the point that someone was willing to help push the lesson forward with the obvious question. Or in this case, statement.

"Beacon supplies any extended mission with rations to complete the mission plus thirty percent," A bookish looking student stated a bit too pompously for Naruto's liking. "Securing sufficient rations before the start of any mission is both critical and elementary. Nobody here would or has been caught on an operation where food would be an issue."

A flash of intent through their mental connection had Kurama jump off his shoulder perch and onto the stage. Naruto waved his hands lazily and the two large filing cabinets on his desk burst open, sand pouring out from them. Large tendrils of sand followed him as he walked towards the center of the stage, save for one small bit of sand that remained at his desk.

"Imagine you're being dropped into a mission," Naruto started, moving arms as he did so. The sand alive with his chakra took on many shapes, breaking apart and separating itself into the setpieces he wished for. Children responded well to visuals, after all.

The sand at his desk took form into a miniature bullhead and flew through his class. Flying over the students' heads, winding its way through a nonsensical path, it eventually made its way back to the stage. Awaiting it was a small forest made entirely of sand about as tall as his waist.

"Bullheads are fantastic transportation for the average mission. The standard transports used by Beacon are not, as you should always bear in mind, built with the intention to dominate the skies. If you're unlucky…" The sandy bullhead encountered two flying-grimm counterparts that attacked it in the sky, chasing it to the ground. When the sand-bullhead crashed, four stick-figures emerged from it. "You could find that you're going to need to survive in less than optimal conditions."

"Even if that were to happen, we'd still have our supplies on us," The increasingly annoying kid reminded him.

"Indeed you would, _if_ you were following Beacon protocol."

Naruto had perused — alright, he'd made a clone do the perusing — every piece of literature he could get his hands on concerning Beacon rules, regulations, policies, and practices. He wasn't a stickler for the rules by any definition of the term, but you had to know where the lines were before you could color outside them.

That combined with the knowledge of humans as a species made his next guess more of a certainty than anything. "Beacon travel policy states that all mission gear pertinent to your person should be kept on your person. So I'm sure if I was to ask you if you kept your packs on you during any and all transportation then your answer would be 'yes Professor Uzumaki', right?"

The nervous shuffling of the class was answer enough. Naruto didn't really blame them for that. Keeping your hands on a full pack of provisions, weapons, and whatever other mission-pertinent supplies you needed in a vehicle wasn't fun. They bounced around, required constant attention, and there often wasn't space beneath one's seat large enough for a full ruck, meaning it often needed to be held in your lap. It was one of the reasons he'd never used vehicles for missions. Even when they'd become all the rage in the Elemental Nations, he'd stayed an anachronism to the end.

"We could always get them from storage after we crashed…" The kid mumbled shamefacedly.

Naruto's brow twitched. He snapped his finger, drawing the attention of everyone in the class and then pointing it to the bullhead. Flecks of sand were now floating off it. "Your bullhead's engine is on fire. What do you do? Three, two, one, who has an answer?"

A few scattered hands raised throughout the crowd, the brat's among them. "I'd get the supplies and-"

"Boom, your bullhead blew up. You're dead. What part of _the_ _engine is on fire_ did you not understand?" Naruto waved the kid off, ignoring his stammering. "The rest of you who raised your hands; which of you were going to go and get your supplies?"

All of the hands that were up went down.

"Of course not," Naruto's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Alright then; among those who didn't raise their hands, where would you have been? Standing by the bullhead trying to figure out what to do? Boom, you're also dead."

"You can't know that! We could have been fine!" The obnoxious brat cried out.

"You're right. I can't," Naruto agreed, surprising his class. "Maybe the bullhead doesn't explode. Maybe you get your supplies, complete your mission, and evac comes and gets you in a few days. For all I know, you could be fine."

"So hey, let's be generous and say the engine that I told you was on fire only leads to an explosion one in five times. You'd live eighty percent of the time. You need those supplies on that bullhead, after all. Not getting them is basically the same as dying, so you take the risk. Any team I would lead would never do something so stupid. I wouldn't risk sending anyone into a potential explosion because _I know my mushrooms._ If there are no mushrooms, I know how to hunt. If there's nothing to hunt, I know what berries will sustain me and which ones are poison."

He'd also learned how to sustain himself without food by using a constant drip of nature's energy. Naruto left that detail out, correctly presuming it would lower the impact of the overall lesson.

"I understand you lot have been on missions already and have gotten a feel for how they work," Naruto offered an olive branch. "But so far those missions have been short, sweet, and to the point. The mission reports you've all submitted paint the same picture."

Reading those files was more for his benefit than their own. The second-year students were all eighteen now. Naruto knew — primarily due to being informed so many a time — that his perception of what an eighteen-year-old should be able to accomplish was warped. Going through the reports helped him get a better grasp on what mission level the students were trusted with.

Scaling it down for Remnant capabilities, most of the missions issued were C's and B's. They weren't out there chasing runaway cats, but neither were they heroes. The young huntsmen functioned closer to something like an anti-grimm patrol, being sent wherever a grimm cleanup was needed for whatever work was necessary. Important as that was, it wasn't what Beacon would need for much longer.

It would need heroes.

"I would like nothing more if everything I taught you in this class was completely pointless. I wish for your sakes that every mission you are on for the rest of your life goes to plan. But since I don't believe that and neither do you, it's important to be prepared for the many things that can and eventually will go sideways. Thinking that missions will keep on going the way they've been going is a great way to get yourself into more trouble than you can handle."

The bell tolled and announced the end of class. While Naruto hadn't even remotely timed things out intentionally, he did know how to capitalize on the momentum. "That'll be all for today. One of my clones will be passing out worksheets on various mushrooms, their edibility, and how to identify them at the door. Familiarize yourself with their contents as there will be a quiz sometime in the next week."

The various groans his words solicited had Naruto mentally bumping up the test's date. He'd intended to give it Friday… but tomorrow would work too.

* * *

"My boy!" Port's voice boomed as Naruto walked into the staff lounge.

"Professor Port," Naruto responded with a nod before taking and flipping open a binder containing last weeks coursework. Grading papers was a fairly unglamorous part of teaching that still required a relatively full attention. The more you slacked off on grading the more students would assume you were the professor whose coursework they could skip.

And while he could task his clones to do it, they were even more bitter about the task than he was. Getting hammered with concentrated annoyance whenever he dispelled them after a job like that wasn't normally worth assigning it to them in the first place. If the situation demanded it, of course he'd do it, but it was simply a matter of comfort this time around. And so it was Naruto's thought that surrounding himself with his fellow educators would help him remain focused on the task at hand.

It proved to be the type of idea that sounded much better in theory than it worked in practice.

"Any questions for your senior professor?" Port asked, his mustache wiggling as he did so.

"Hmmmm…" Naruto immediately began to tune him out. That was, at least, until he realized he did actually have a question. "What do we do with the second-year students and up?"

"Pertaining to?" Professor Oobleck joined the conversation as he too entered the staffroom.

Naruto rummaged through his binder, missing the familiar weight of his companion on his shoulders. It wasn't that odd for Kurama to wander under normal circumstances, but usually when they were around people the two of them stuck together.

Finding what he'd been looking for, Naruto pulled out something of a syllabus that Ozpin had provided for him. It didn't directly give the details of any of their classes, rather it was a list of Beacon field trips, assignments, missions and the like for students of each year. While the first years had several missions planned out well in advance, the second years and above were more concerning.

Finding what he was looking for, he held out the paper for them and pointed to a particular item. "It seems like after the first year we're just throwing our second year students along on mid-rank missions. The worse teams consistently get assigned C's while the more skilled are sent on B's."

"Primarily B's," Professor Oobleck corrected before collapsing into his own personal armchair that was pushed up against the wall. "While we do try and keep those teams who aren't prepared to relatively low-risk missions, teams that distinguish themselves might be sent on A-rank missions as soon as their second year."

Naruto nodded. That much was something he could accept. "But what about the third and fourth years? They're both doubling up on B's and A's."

"Of course they are! What would you have us do, lad? Send academy students on our most difficult missions? Any of our special missions are assigned only to graduated huntsmen who have proven themselves. They are far too dangerous for mere students."

"I thought we'd have something similar to the first years, only scaled up. S rank missions supervised by staff." _Something to get them prepared for a real fight._

Professor Oobleck tilted his spectacles down and looked at him. The hot mug of coffee he'd procured himself steamed his lenses. "What staff?"

"Or graduates of the school," Naruto immediately ceded the point. What staff indeed. Apparently, almost all of them would be heading the first year missions near the beginning of the second semester. With the minimal teaching staff they had, that meant most classes would grind to a halt at that point.

"That's a tall order you're asking for Naruto-"

"Professor Uzumaki," Naruto quickly corrected him.

"It's difficult enough to find enough skilled huntsmen required for such dangerous missions," Port continued unphased. "But you want us to find huntsmen capable of babysitting our students while they do it? It's too risky for anything but the highest quality huntsman. I myself would happily volunteer but I imagine there'd be few other takers."

Naruto clicked his tongue. "I'm not denying that there's some risk to the idea. I _am_ of the mind that there are threats too great for total caution. If we have to make a gamble, I'd want it to be on the next generation."

"And while I know we all agree with you on that," A voice came from Naruto's six. He resisted the compulsion to spin around and assess what had snuck up on him. The voice, the complete lack of presence it belonged to... both were becoming familiar to him. "Peter doesn't speak out of turn. There is a very real issue of manpower to consider."

"When it comes to war you won't win with numbers, Ozpin. That's a battle humanity lost when they got corralled onto twenty percent of Remnant's habitable land, leaving the rest for grimm to spawn. Your best hope — _only_ hope — is to win by quality," Determined amber eyes glinted in Naruto's memory. "And even that will be difficult."

As Ozpin took the seat directly across from him at the table, Oobleck set down his mug and sighed. "It isn't as if I don't understand your position, Professor Uzumaki. We belong to a rather unfortunate occupation. Our funding is primarily from two revenue sources; donations and a budget assigned by the Vale Council. As the council is elected, they are obligated to represent the people. While we might see that a storm is brewing close on the horizon, the people do not."

"More than money, we lack people," Ozpin added. "While it might be possible to increase our teaching staff, one must ask to what end? Our curriculum is not what you or I find insufficient. It is the lack of practical experience that is most problematic. Huntsmen skilled enough to head such dangerous expeditions are in low supply. From that short list of names, I would then need to decide which could be pulled from the critical functions they already serve to train the next generation. To prepare for the future in that way would be to lower our defenses now."

"So we're stuck up a creek with no money to buy a paddle and no one who knows how to use the damned thing even if we did," Port finished. "I tried to convince old Oz to do the same thing when I first became a teacher here. I said that we needed more and better than what we had. He threw the same reasons in my face then that we're rattling off now."

"It's tragic, but necessary," Professor Oobleck concluded.

Naruto's long life had taught him many lessons. Pertinent to how he felt right now was one; sometimes the mind understands but the heart doesn't give in. He knew they were right. Their resources and capabilities were limited. Those factors meant that tough choices had to be made. There was only so much they could do. They were only human.

They weren't gods.

"You're probably right," Naruto forced himself to agree as he rose from his seat. "There's only so much we can do with what we have."

"Chin up, Naruto!" Port hollered after him as he left the staffroom behind him at a brusque pace. "Ahhh… to be young again. So full of passion, vim, and vigor," Port paused for a minute and then cleared his throat. "Not that I'm lacking in any of those, obviously."

"He takes his position as a professor seriously. To have such foresight into critical issues of the academy so quickly... I believe that Ozpin has found us a diamond to add to our ranks."

Ozpin smiled knowingly. "He convinced me of such during our interview. To say I have high expectations of him would be overly modest."

"He's a good lad. Maybe a bit young if you ask me."

Ozpin chuckled. "I can assure you that won't be a problem, Peter."

"Speaking of names, Peter," Oobleck turned towards his heavyset friend. "Why do you insist on referring to him as you do?"

"Naruto?" Peter asked like the very question was ludicrous. "Do you want me to address a man who drank me under the table as 'professor'? That man is now a brother-in-arms! Any man who can almost send me to the gates of hell with booze is a friend and I shan't let even the man himself tell me otherwise!"

"Hmm?" A feminine voice hummed. "What was that I heard? I could have sworn someone just confessed that their recent ailment was, in fact, self inflicted by a lack of restraint."

Port swallowed audibly. "G-glynda! You must have misheard me. I was merely saying…"

"Yes? No, please do continue, Peter. If you don't say anything more I may have to dig the rest of your grave myself," Goodwitch's eyes flashed steel towards her coworker.

"It really was Naruto's fault. It was he who challenged me. As a man of honor I had no choice but to accept!"

"Ahhhh…" Goodwitch exhaled, her body relaxing as she did so. "That's better. It's plenty deep now."

Peter's eyes darted back and forth between Oobleck and Ozpin, looking for a savior in either of them. Both shrugged, averted their eyes, and returned to their coffee. And as mad as he wanted to be at them, it was hard to place blame.

He wouldn't jump in front of a raging Glynda either.

* * *

There were good and bad types of attention. Getting recognized because you were crazy strong, fought like you were born to do it, and were everything every huntsman and huntress aspired to be? Jaune thought that was pretty good attention that Pyrrha got.

Getting noticed because you were pathetically weak? Because you somehow ended up the leader of people head and shoulders above you? The type of attention that drew bullies your way all the time? That was his type of attention. Jaune hated that type of attention.

It was kind of weird how much he'd began to hate being weak. Of course he was going to be weak. It wasn't like he'd trained his whole life like Pyrrha had. Weiss and Blake probably worked hard too. One look at how they fought in class and he knew they'd been preparing to be huntressess just like Pyrrha. He was the only one who wasn't prepared.

And that's why he went to Naruto every single day. Weiss and Pyrrha had been mentioning team practices more and more with each passing day. Now that Team One was starting to act like a team — something he was genuinely happy about — Jaune had lost his primary defense as to why he didn't want to do team practice. His current excuse being that he wanted to ease into the curriculum.

With an entire week of school now over, that excuse held less water with Weiss than ever. She had actually started working with Pyrrha to try and corner him into practice today! Between the two of them Jaune knew there was no way he could get himself out of it.

Yet here he was, training on the edges of the Emerald Forest without his team. How'd he manage that? He'd gotten attention that he couldn't tell was good or bad. The type of attention that had hopped onto his shoulders, claimed him, and dared anyone on his team to dispute that claim.

It really showed how smart his team was that they'd let him go without a fight.

 _Your form is terrible._ Kurama commented dryly as Jaune's sword hacked into tree, cutting maybe half an inch in before getting stuck. _You're relying on your shoulders too much to generate power. Create strength with your arms and the torque of your body._

Jaune listened… or would obeyed be a more accurate description? Either way, when he swung at the tree this time Crocea Mors managed to sink itself a whole inch into the mighty oak.

 _Better._

Jaune wrenched his blade from the oak once more. The impact from striking something so solid left his hands feeling a little numb. Not that he was complaining! It was… surprising, really. This felt an awful lot like training to fight.

"Why are you training me?" Jaune asked the fox who had perched itself atop a tree stump. "I thought Naruto didn't want me practicing like this until I was stronger."

 _Have I taken human form and grown blonde hair? Naruto is Naruto. I am myself._ _The two of us do not always see eye to eye on everything._

Jaune had a pretty mixed opinion on that. His parents hadn't always agreed on everything, but they were still a team. In that way it made sense. Did that mean he was betraying Naruto by learning from Kurama right now? That he was less on board with. "But why now? I've been keeping at my conditioning for weeks now and you haven't said anything."

Kurama snorted. _I hadn't seen you fight until recently._

Jaune was expecting him to have more to say. After a minute passed and Kurama pointed his nose back towards the tree, it was clear that the fox thought what he said was enough. Did that mean Kurama had seen him fight?

If so, then that pretty much explained everything.

Half an hour was how long Jaune spent trying to fell the oak before Kurama said something more than a critique. _You aren't weak._

Of all the most surprising things the fox could have said, that was pretty darn high on Jaune's list. "What… what do you mean I'm not weak?" He panted. Swinging a sword for thirty minutes straight was _not_ as easy as he thought it'd be.

 _I mean that you aren't weak._ Kurama repeated. The look in his eye told Jaune he wasn't to ask again. Apparently his face had enough confusion on display that the annoyed fox sighed and relented. _You are inept, not incapable._

"Errr… thanks?"

 _It means you have no excuse to be this pathetic._ Kurama glared at him. With that being said, the fox jumped off its perch on the tree stump and plodded over to him. Despite the fact that Kurama had been in a helpful mood so far, the sight of the orange-red fox slowly plodding towards him was not a comforting one.

Jaune needn't have worried. When the fox arrived at his feat it placed it's right paw on his leg and closed his eyes. _The humans of Remnant are weaker than we expected. Your chakra — or whatever your people call it here — is far stronger than most of your kind. Yet instead of harnessing it like you should, it sits there idle and purposeless._

"It's not like I'm not using my aura on purpose… I just don't really know _how_ to use it."

 _I watched you use it on the day of your test. You saved the cat._

"Cat?" Jaune asked. He had no idea what cat Kurama was talking about but there was only one person he even remotely saved that day. "Do you mean Blake?"

 _Mmmm…_

Kurama had a point. There was no way he was strong enough to lift a tree that huge normally, so it had to have been aura that gave him the strength to do it. "It kinda just happened there… I knew I needed to use it, knew it was possible, and then bam, it was there! I've tried since then," Jaune flexed his hand in the vain hope that he'd feel his aura's strength coursing through it. There was nothing. "I haven't been able to."

 _Your chakra lacks purpose because you do not will it to._ Kurama exhaled a heavy breath. _Would a cart move uphill were it not pulled? Using my chakra is as natural to me as breathing. It is part of me. To you, it is foreign. Like an unruly pup, it will never heed your call unless you make it. When it knows its master it shall serve you absolutely._

Jaune frowned. "You make it sound like something I have to conquer. Weiss told me aura was the manifestation of my soul — a part of me. Why do I need to be so… aggressive?"

 _Humans are ignorant as a species and you are no exception._ Kurama's red eyes looked up to him. What should have felt insulting didn't carry the same bite from the fox as it would someone like Cardin. It felt like he was stating a fact without any malice behind it. _You ask why you would need to conquer yourself while questioning your worth in the same breath. If you believe yourself worthless and incapable, why would your soul obey?_

Cardin had given Jaune a fair deal of experience with being struck. The deathstalker had hit him ten times harder. Yet Jaune felt that Kurama's blow hurt the worst. "I know that confidence is important, but what do I have to be confident about?! I AM weak! My partner backflipped off of someone's shield yesterday while I can't even block properly without falling over myself!"

 _And?_

And? _And?!_ What the heck did he mean by 'and'?!

 _What? Did you come to Beacon without training, instinct, or upbringing and expect to be kami's gift to huntsmen? You did not. You don't have the confidence necessary for such foolishness. If you expected to do poorly and are now living up to that expectation, I fail to see what could possibly irk you._

Jaune finally found himself pushed over the precipice of his timidity. "I know! I knew I wasn't going to be good before I came here! I knew I'd be a joke! What I didn't expect was to be on a team of girls so strong they're basically superheroes while I'm stuck here getting lessons on how to swing a sword! And then fate goes and decides it'd be funny to make me the leader of this team? What kind of sick joke is that?!"

When Kurama's nostrils flared, Jaune wasn't sure what to make of it. The sharp inhale and exhale of breath, the shaking of the fox's body. He didn't know what any of it meant until he saw the flash in the brights of Kurama's eyes.

He was laughing.

"Is this some joke to you?!"

 _It is amusing._ Kurama admitted candidly, his body still racked by laughter. _If only because it proves you are a boy who does not learn his lessons easily. I know your kind well._

Jaune bit his tongue. Literally. It was the only way to stop his rather small temper from getting the better of him. It really did feel like Kurama knew what buttons to press to get a rise out of him. It wasn't long before the mirth of the fox lessened. It hadn't died, this Jaune knew. His long tail whisked through the air in a smooth and somewhat entrancing motion, the glint in Kurama's eyes still there.

 _I do believe my partner once told you to focus on what you could do. Surprisingly sound advice from him, though not without its hypocrisy. So tell me; what do you think you can do?_

What could he do? If he knew what he could do then he wouldn't be so stuck! It wasn't like he could magic his way into being a fighter like Pyrrha. No way he could become as precise and skilled as Weiss. Blake's agility and cunning were beyond him too! They'd spent their lives preparing for this and all he'd done was decide one day to pursue his dream! He needed more-

"Time," The word fell dumbly from Jaune's mouth. "If I'm going to be better, I'm going to need more time."

 _Good._ Kurama said, his lips peeling up to expose a toothy smile. _But you can't make time, can you?_

"No… I can't. Can I?" Jaune's mind raced to try and answer the question he'd posed more for his own benefit than Kurama's.

Was there a way to cheat time? They both knew he didn't have a lifetime to become a huntsman. He needed to do it now. His team needed him to do it now. But what could he do? There was no time-chamber he could train in like in his morning cartoons. He couldn't cheat time like that.

 _It's impressive, isn't it?_ Kurama asked him with an obvious smugness as he walked the few paces necessary to arrive at the base of the tree Jaune had been training on. He stood on his hind legs and touched the gash of his sword strikes with his claw. _Your blade cuts far deeper now than it did when we started._

Kurama's message hit Jaune like a ton of bricks. It wasn't really that impressive considering the fox had basically thrown the answer in his face. "I stopped relying on my shoulders like you told me to."

 _Indeed. While there are many important lessons one can only learn on their own, there are some that are much more quickly processed by being taught. Humans have a long history of compensating for their weakness through theft. Stealing the inventions of those smarter than them, the techniques of those stronger. The ability to take from others and make it their own is the only reason your species has lasted as long as it has. Deplorable as it is, denying your human nature will only slow you down._

"Steal? What do you mean steal? You taught me."

Kurama rolled his eyes. _You humans are always so literal. A nation with resources is at an advantage only so long as they are able to utilize them effectively. It matters not how large an advantage one human has over the other if they lack the means by which to use it._

Jaune's thoughts clicked as he realized what Kurama was saying. "My aura. You said it was larger than most people's."

 _By a considerable amount._ Kurama added, pawing his way back over to Jaune. _But idiot that you are, you don't know how to use it. You don't have the skill with your blade or the command of your energy to do anything with your advantage. So you should-_

"Steal," Jaune finished for him.

Kurama's teeth bared themselves into a grin. _Steal everything as a human would. Steal all the knowledge, the techniques, and anything else that you can. It is through the theft of other's ideas that humans can thwart time. By passing on their knowledge from one generation to the next humans have grown greater than nature ever intended._

It all made sense. The way Kurama said it was a bit weird, but Jaune basically understood what he meant. There was no point in trying to maintain his pride as a leader because he didn't have any to begin with. He knew he was going to suck at this whole huntsman thing in the beginning. Being made his team's leader hadn't miraculously changed that.

If he wanted to get better then he needed to accept all the help he could get.

"Thank, Kurama. That was actually really helpful."

The fox glared at him. Those fiery red orbs felt like they were piercing through his body. _Actually? Did you expect my advice to not be helpful?_

"What? No! That wasn't what I meant at-"

The fox lept at him and Jaune flinched. Definitely _not_ the reaction you wanted to have to danger when you were at a school made to train heroes. While he couldn't see, Jaune felt his neck enveloped by warmth as something wrapped around him. When he opened his eyes the orange-red hue of Kurama occupied both sides of his peripheral vision.

 _Since you seem to be undecided on the merits of my instruction, it seems necessary to work you even harder. You should prepare to work until the results of my efforts are undeniable._

Jaune's groan quickly transformed into a whimper when Kurama shot him a look that clearly said it was in his best interest to shut up and accept things. Wearily picking up his sword, Jaune approached the tree with Kurama resting on his shoulders.

 _I will monitor your form from here._ Kurama explained. _Should you allow it to deteriorate…_ The fox dug its claws into his shoulders.

"Ow!"

 _That was a warning._

"Warning?!" Jaune cried incredulously. "I didn't even do anything wrong yet."

 _And I would advise you continue to make sure that is the case._

Too threatened by his trainer to even grumble, Jaune held up his sword and shield and readied himself to swing. Between school and the training he'd done already, Jaune already felt spent.

Hadn't he? He could have sworn he felt more tired a minute ago. Maybe he was remembering wrong because when Jaune swung his sword his body felt surprisingly light. He felt good!

That was until claws pierced their way through his skin.

 _Your shield arm dropped when you swung. That's why you get hit so much, baka. Again!_

Kurama didn't even leave him a chance to reply before demanding he continue. Filled with newfound determination, Jaune was ready to oblige him. He pulled Crocea Mors from the tree and swung it again. For a second, Jaune considered that maybe he was more tired than he felt.

He could have sworn he saw an orange glow coming off his hand.

* * *

Naruto collapsed on his bed, his mind buzzing with thoughts. For most of his life he'd been more of a doer than a thinker. There'd always been people smarter than him and he'd been okay with that.

For the first leg of his journey he'd had Shikamaru to keep him straight. Then, funnily enough, the mantle passed through the family to Shikadai. He'd passed on the mantle of Hokage at that point but as an important figure in the shinobi world he'd still found need of counsel.

As time had passed the circle of trusted friends and advisors shrunk. That was natural, Naruto supposed. As his existence became more of an anachronism there were obviously fewer people who understood his way of life. It took a long while for that number to fall to the point where he could no longer stand it.

But it did.

The sound of his door being pushed open put Naruto on alert for a second until he realized who it was. "I was wondering where you wandered off to."

 _What a pointless way to pass your time._

Naruto chuckled. No matter how time had changed things there had always been one constant in his life.

"Should I be brave enough to ask what you were up to?"

 _Amusing myself._ Kurama replied as he jumped on the bed and curled up in Naruto's lap. _Same as you should have been doing._

Naruto ran his hand through Kurama's fur. The action calmed him. Grounded him. Feeling something that would always be there. Something he couldn't accidentally break.

"I'll have to try harder to have some fun," Naruto agreed. His partner snorted, rolling his eyes before returning his head to rest on his own tail.

Kurama's skepticism was deserved. The entire point of coming to Remnant was to escape. They'd left behind the world where Naruto Uzumaki held any more meaning than the name of a man, yet Naruto couldn't deny he was finding it hard to adjust to that. He'd expected lifting a burden that had been on his shoulders for centuries to feel more liberating, like Lee whenever he'd take off those ridiculous weights. It seemed that what weighed him down was not so easily removed.

 _You should invest yourself._ Kurama advised. _Find a pet you like and take care of it._

"Why? I've already got the cutest fo-" Naruto whipped his hand away from Kurama's gaping maw before it could snap down on his fingers. "Alright, maybe I deserved that."

 _You did. Take what I say seriously._

Naruto sighed. "A pet?"

 _A figure of speech. You seemed more lively when you were nurturing your pet here. Why not take up another one?_

Naruto glowered at his companion. "Was that rhetorical? Our last 'pet' turned out to have sharper claws than we thought. This isn't our world and we shouldn't meddle. We're here to relax and find some peace."

 _So says the teacher of this world's warriors._

"An attempt to rebalance the scales, which you well know."

Kurama grunted. His partner was as tired of having this conversation as he was yet they kept coming back to it. Such was the nature of immortal partners. Arguments didn't really go away until they were solved when you had all the time in the world to dwell on them.

Naruto didn't feel in the mood to dwell anymore. As such, he changed the topic. "So, you've taken up a pet?"

 _An amusing one at that._ Kurama smiled. _Hopeless as he is now, I'll forge him into something stronger. Consider it my contribution to restoring the balance of power._

It didn't take a psychic to guess who Kurama meant and Naruto knew his partner far better than any psychic. "Try not to break him. I like that kid."

 _He's my toy._ Kurama joked with playful petulance. _Find your own._

Naruto chuckled, returning his hand to Kurama's fur, slowly stroking it as he closed his eyes and let time pass him by. Allowing his mind to wander, Naruto had to admit his friend had a point. Whether or not he should have been notwithstanding, he had been enjoying himself with their 'pet'.

 _Maybe he has a point._ Naruto ceded the argument. It wouldn't be the worst thing to find someone else to nurture. He knew it would be good for him. Those months past had been the first time Naruto had felt like himself in a very long time, after all. The teasing, playing, and poking fun as he helped someone… he'd missed that more than he thought he would. The only question was whether or not it was fair for Remnant. He'd not come here to play god.

Naruto decided to go along with Kurama's suggestion. Logically, he knew that he'd never feel at peace in Remnant if he didn't put down at least a few roots. As much as part of him continued to fret that he was a whale swimming in a fish's pond, it was also true that he'd already mucked up the waters. Mucking things in the opposite direction would hopefully be enough to balance things out…

Though knowing her, Naruto had his doubts.

* * *

 ** _My friend and I often wonder what percentage of people get the obvious hints. I feel like I'm bludgeoning people with things sometimes, yet I release a character reveal and people are like "Where did this come from?!". Naruto's lack of clone use in OFNT springs to mind as an example. The number of people who messaged or reviewed something like 'reread the whole story for continuity, can't believe I missed that' was funnily high._**

 ** _Setting up Naruto's backstory as we go. I find that beating the audience with fifty pages of backstory to set things up is often a dull and unenjoyable way to take a story. This chapter put some meat on Naruto's bones, that's for sure._**

 _ **If you wish to support or wish to get the patron rewards and poll options, check out**_ _ **[**_ ** _p a treon . com (slash) Faulkner]. I've finally started writing "Fake it 'till you make it", the Velvet oneshot. That'll be released for those guys exclusively as it was a very, VERY old campaign promise. As a general rule, I don't do exclusive stuff and won't do anymore in the future. I merely interact with patrons more as they help keep these series going and I appreciate their contributions._**


	11. Team Deficiencies

**_Greetings and salutations. Not all that much to say here. Trying to write on a 5 day a week work schedule is apparently something I am exceptionally bad at. More annoying was that this was the chapter that got finished first out of all the stories. I was hoping it would be Old Fox or Devil since both chapters of those stories have a bit more going on in them. Would make for a better return to the plate._**

 ** _Oh well. Can't have everything._**

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

 **Team Deficiencies**

Revenge.

Now that was a motivation Naruto had more experience with than most. Not directly, mind you. He'd never been particularly vengeful. Sure, he'd thought about punching Orochimaru in the face a few hundred… thousand times, but who hadn't?

His experience with vengeance was from a certain firsthand source. Said source _may_ have spent the better part of his childhood obsessing over killing one person, realizing that one person was innocent and deciding to kill another person, killed that person, then once that was all done gone and decided to — after saving the world, no less — kill all its leaders and replace them himself.

Normal edgy chunii-teen things.

That being said, Naruto didn't think he'd done anything so grandiose as to deserve a revenge plot at Beacon so early on. He'd been nice, a decent professor, and he'd even covered both his colleagues' classes when required! This treatment he was getting was completely and totally undeserved. So he'd knocked them on their asses, big deal. A bijūdama between teacher and student shouldn't have been such an issue.

Coco Adel had made her vehement disagreement with his stance on that known.

"Can we give this a rest?" Naruto yawned, taking a half-step to his left as he did.

Yatsuhashi's sword missed him by a narrow breadth as it came slashing down. Even though the attack missed it was annoying. The large boy was strong enough to break the grassy ground, destabilizing the place where Naruto had been standing despite his effortless dodge. The treeline of the Emerald Forest had become his go-to for spars of this nature. Naruto leaped backward and lazily built some distance from CFVY's vanguard, ringing slightly as he did so.

Showing they had at least some skill as a team, Fox had covered the intentionally obvious retreat. The boy's arms crossed like he was doing a cross block, at least until his arms shot outward in a sea-parting motion, swinging the bladed vambraces he wore on his arms like a weapon.

 _I mean, they are weapons._ Naruto mused disinterestedly. _Just because I'm not worried about them doesn't make them not weapons._

Everything insofar had been pretty easy to understand. Send the big guy who could create the most pressure to force him to evade. Then, thinking that he couldn't change direction while airborne, CFVY had set a trap for him. Not a bad idea in theory. In practice…

He summoned a clone to throw him skyward right as Fox was about to connect. The attack axed his clone immediately after he'd been launched to safety, though not before the clone grabbed one of Fox's arms in what looked like an attempt to stop the attack. The other arm cleaved through his clone leaving only a puff of smoke as the clone disappeared.

Having jumped impossibly high by Remnant's standards, Naruto hoped he'd have some time to relax before falling back to the ground and putting his dear students into the dirt. Coco looked to have other plans, bracing her handbag as it transformed in her… hands.

 _As a transforming handbag should. Where else would it transform? Her feet?_

It was times like these that Naruto understood why Kakashi had read books while doing this. You didn't need to pay attention to kids during these kinds of exercises. For all the rebellious airs CFVY put up — and Naruto absolutely refused to call any team with a 'V' in its acronym Team Coffee — their fighting was straight from a strategy guide. Send a distraction, limit your opponent's movements, and then-

"Dodge this!" Coco shrieked with manic glee as she aimed the handbag-now-minigun. While he had expected one of the remaining two to hit him with some sort of projectile, there was one thing that did surprise him.

 _Oh, Scarlatina has one too… swell._

There was the small difference that the bunny-girl's ridiculously large gun was glowing. Still, he was willing to bet aesthetics wouldn't make the bullets hurt less if he let them connect. All in all, as the two girls unloaded their weapons on him, Naruto didn't think the color of the gun really mattered much. He did appreciate that Ms. Scarlatina looked remorseful as she tried to pour a few hundred bullets in him. That counted for something.

Naruto sighed. They most likely thought that he'd be a sitting duck in the air. Even if he did make a clone they'd likely try and box him in with gunfire until one of the many bullets hit. _What a drag._

There were so many ways to get out of this that Naruto didn't know what to choose. It was a lackadaisical approach for Naruto to be picky about how he won. Not many had the luxury of apathy when small pieces of metal were threatening to rampage around one's intestines should they fail to be evaded. He frequently wondered why so many students chose to use guns at Beacon. Even the students her dodged bullets with almost casual ease. Why on Remnant did they think it would work on a professor?

Should he release the sand sealed in his storage scroll and pull a Gaara defense? He could hit the bullets out of the air with a kunai if he wanted to. They'd probably be pretty damn shocked to see someone bat off bullets of two fully automatic weapons. Hell, he could hold a kunai in each hand while he did it. He didn't like doing that because leaving a free hand to grapple was more his style. Not to mention that there was always something to say about a good wind jutsu to blow projectiles out of the sky, too.

No… he wouldn't do any of those. Tired and bored, Naruto decided he'd humored the second-year team enough. He reached for Kurama's power, something made slightly more challenging by the matter of distance his partner had put between them. It was still easy, but more difficult in a similar way to how it would be more difficult to walk through your home while holding a cup. Simply put, it was more of an annoyance than anything.

Golden-orange light swarmed his body. It enveloped him from head to toe; an armor born from the union of Kurama's chakra and his own. Naruto pushed the chakra cloak out further, making the golden energy surrounding him twice as large as his actual person. When the storm of bullets found their purchase in his chakra, they did not accomplish their purpose. He was not felled, wounded, or otherwise beaten. The small lumps of metal were deprived of their inertia and held in stasis like an insect crystalized in amber.

Naruto fell back to the ground, bullets peppering his chakra cloak the entire time, accomplishing nothing. If this were real combat, he might have sent the bullets back at them.

 _Eh, probably not._ Naruto reconsidered as he molded his and Kurama's chakra once more. Multiple arms of chakra began to branch out of the cloak as he closed in on the ground and, along with it, their team. The two boys were both in position to contest his landing while the girls were boxing him in with enough bullets to give Naruto a reasonable degree of certainty that Beacon students did _not_ pay for their own ammo.

 _Chakra arms, kunai, maybe a sage punch._ Naruto ran through the many ways to end the fight. _Eh, might as well make use of what my clone gave me._

With his path chosen, Naruto prepared for a jutsu that had become synonymous with his name. A jutsu that no longer belonged to the Yellow Flash, but the Hero of the World. One second he was about to fall upon them and into their trap.

And the next he was grabbing Fox's arm from beside the boy. A chakra arm extended out from his cloak, grabbed his back, and prostrated the boy to the ground as three more shot out to do the same to his teammates. Coco was the only one to manage a disengaging jump, but the chakra arm caught up to her and latched onto her leg. With no way for her momentum to continue away, it went the only way it could.

Down.

"Oomph!" Coco groaned as the wind was knocked from her lungs. The chakra arm extended over Coco's body to cover her and Naruto rolled her onto her stomach. He'd seen enough jutsu that came from the mouth to know that you always wanted to disarm a combatant face down. Be that as it may, Coco didn't seem to appreciate his tactical decision making. "Can oo stmhpr…"

"Huh? What was that? Speak up."

"Can you stop?" She asked again through gritted teeth when he gave her head enough play to turn slightly to the side.

"I mean, I could, but if you don't spend time reflecting on your mistakes you won't learn from them. So… reflect, I guess." The chakra arm pushed Coco's face back into the dirt. That his chakra cloak rubbed her face into the ground was nothing but a supplementary teaching method. Negative reinforcement, if you would.

It had nothing to do with this being the third time this week that CFVY had challenged him. Nothing at all.

"Your plan was well thought out. You forced me into the retreats that you wanted. Good job on that," And he meant the compliment. Naruto had spent his first few weeks at Beacon watching the students like a hawk. Team CFVY was one of the best Beacon had to offer. Even so, there was still room for improvement. "You tried to use your numbers and equipment to limit the movement of a superior opponent. It might have worked if one of you hadn't gotten tricked."

Naruto let the remark hang in the air for a little bit to see if anyone would volunteer the information. They didn't. Not that he expected them to. Semblances were fairly binary compared to jutsu for some reason. And while figuring out that reason was one of his many hobbies at present, he'd yet to find the answer.

"Fox," Naruto looked to the boy presently lying flat on the ground. He'd kind of forgotten he'd left them there in all honesty. Deciding he'd had enough fun, he let all of them up… well, all except Coco. "What happened with my clone?"

The boy thought for a second before answering. "You used it to escape, I attacked it, and I defeated it."

"Close, but missing a big detail. Walk me through the exchange one step at a time."

"The clone threw you in the air, it tried to block my attack but only stopped one of my arms."

"It _grabbed_ one of your arms," Naruto corrected. "And where did I teleport to?"

Realization dawned on Fox's face as he held his arm out and slowly turned it until a black mark was shown to the rest of them. It wasn't he who commented on it, though.

"Is that a brand?" Yatsuhashi asked.

"More like an anchor. My clone put it on his arm during the grapple," Naruto explained as he finally released an irate Coco from eating dirt. "'To be honest, my clone could have blocked that attack easily. I let Fox win."

"To make us overconfident?" Velvet answered/guessed as she helped her leader dust off. It was hard to tell which was which with her. Her complete lack of confidence made every statement come out like a question.

Naruto nodded. "An opponent is at their weakest when they feel like everything is going to plan. Since things were happening exactly the way you wanted them to, there was no reason to think they'd start going sideways."

"Give me a break," Coco scoffed. "How the hell was I supposed to know that on top of making clones and your weird magic arms that you can also teleport? Any other semblances we should know about?"

Naruto sighed. To their credit, he was the anomaly here. After showing off his clones and cloak they weren't wrong to think that he should be out of tricks by Remnant standards. Hidden weapons were more common here than hidden techniques. Still…

"That's no excuse. Whether it's a semblance, a weapon, or some other secret, you should always be on your toes for a surprise. If something doesn't make sense — say, how you managed to beat your professor in hand-to-hand single combat — it's probably best to question why it happened."

There were a few murmured gripes about how the clone looked like it was out of position after launching him into the air. In the end, none of them brought the complaints forward though. He couldn't give them too much hassle about it either. Team CFVY was one of the most promising teams he taught. That alone was the reason he never refuted one of their many challenges. With what he had planned for them, they'd need all the help they could get.

"Thank you, Professor Uzumaki." Velvet bowed her head as her team gathered themselves.

"Thanks."

"We are deeply indebted to you."

"Thanks, Prof."

"Nothing to thank me for," Naruto waved them off. "Just remember this if I ask you for a favor some time."

"We will!"

"Okay."

"We will be sure to repay you in kind."

"Ughhh."

Naruto chuckled as the second-year team made their way back up the windy path towards Beacon. A quick glance at the sun had Naruto pulling out his scroll from his pant's pocket. As he'd thought, he didn't have time to take the scenic route today. He had somewhere he needed to be. He'd only made time for Team CFVY out of necessity. They were the first of many counterbalances -he'd have to make.

He shook the thought away and lifted his hand. Naruto grabbed nothing…

And in an instant, his hand was palming a wooden wall.

Assuming his scroll was correct, Naruto didn't have time to dawdle. Striding off the wood floor and on to stone tile, the overhead lighting illuminated him to the room filled with third years.

"Good morning, class. Last week we left off on battle formations. Leading off of that, today we'll be talking about marching order and why it matters. It's important to remember that today's marching formation is tomorrow's post-ambush battle formation…"

* * *

Watching his partner fight felt like a scene taken out from an action movie. Not the cheap B rated kind either. Perfect lighting, acrobatic stunts during intense swordplay, and an almost impossibly beautiful actress. Not that movie starlets weren't normally beautiful… and not like he looked at Pyrrha like that. She was his partner, his friend, the girl who wore silk pajamas in a room he shared with exclusively other attractive women. With. No. Alone. Time. At. All.

Jaune decided it was best to smother that thought before it could grow.

Watching his partner fight felt like a scene taken out from an action movie. Not the cheap B rated kind either. Perfect lighting, over the top fighting scenes and a ridiculously beautiful actress.

His partner was tearing through all of Team Cardinal at once. Parrying a slash at her back from Sky's halberd, pivoting after she forced him off balance and then striking at Cardin. The big bully of a leader had expected her to be tied up with Sky and ate a shield to the face for it. By the time Dove and Russel charged in his partner had already danced away.

"Damn, she's good," Yang whistled. "Doesn't get any less impressive no matter how many times I see it."

"She is Mistral's Goddess of Victory," Weiss sighed. A bitter note evident in her voice.

That was a thing Jaune hadn't known until recently. Pyrrha was some sort of big shot fighter over in Mistral. Celebrity status big. He'd guessed that when Weiss told him she was on Marshmallow Pete's, but it was a whole lot bigger than cereal. Her own fame was a step below Weiss' own, which after looking into the Schnee name, Jaune knew to be insane. What the heck was up with his team? A prizefighter and an heiress that looked like a storybook princess? Come on!

At least Blake was a normal person. Normalish, at least. Jaune still didn't understand why she spent almost every class with her nose in a book instead of listening to the teachers. Slacking off he could get, but studying in class? Weird. That oddity still left her more normal than the other half of their team, so Jaune solidly considered her to be part of Team One's ordinary half.

A ring out on RDL left Pyrrha facing off against Cardin. Her aura was around eighty percent while Cardin's was barely above half. You didn't need to be a prophet to see the writing on the wall for this fight.

"Mr. Winchester's aura is in the red," Professor Goodwitch announced the end to the fight. "All of Team CRDL has been eliminated."

The polite clapping of the rest of the class lacked any real energy. Not because the fight wasn't impressive. If anything, it was _too_ impressive. Pyrrha's fights were a reminder of how they were supposed to be fighting and — needless to say — weren't. Jaune was in equal parts awe of his partner and ashamed of himself. He'd spent last night reading X-ray and Vav comics instead of training more.

He'd been with Kurama for four hours before that, but clearly, that wasn't enough. Then again, how much could a guy really train?

"Good fight," Jaune congratulated his partner.

Pyrrha smiled as she sat down. "Thank you."

Things had been a little awkward between them for about a day after the Weiss fiasco. They'd rolled out of it after that without much of a scratch. He couldn't say that Pyrrha and Weiss were the best of friends. Not by a longshot. They were, however, both willing to stow their issues with each other away. That wasn't exactly right… it was more like Pyrrha was tabling her issues with Weiss. Weiss had just gotten annoyed with Pyrrha's issues with her. Issues related to Weiss' family.

Jaune didn't really get it. He was just happy the sniping had stopped.

"Next, can I have Ms. Schnee and Ms. Valkyrie."

"Awww yessss!" Nora cheered. "Team Rain is gonna show you who's boss!"

"Not likely."

Jaune laughed. Probably not the best course of action if the stern glare Weiss leveled him with was any indication, yet even that was something he enjoyed. He hadn't had many friends back in Ansel. Team One and Team Rain hanging out together was easily the biggest group of friends he'd had. It was the kind of new experience that summed up why he'd left home in the first place.

"You're lucky it was your partner out there," Cardin sneered at him as he walked past. Jaune was sure he would have shoulder checked him if it wasn't for Pyrrha having insisted on taking the aisle seat. Probably because this scene was becoming a familiar one fast. "I'll make sure to pay you back tomorrow tenfold."

Team CRDL all walked by with bitter looks and promises of revenge. Jaune knew better than to wonder why they were vowing revenge against him and not Pyrrha. Hell, he knew why; they could _take_ revenge against him. Fat chance of pulling the crap they did on him against his partner. Being picked on because he was the easiest target definitely reminded him of home.

With the bullies returned to their seats and Weiss preparing to duel with Nora, Jaune was settling in to watch what would certainly be an explosive fight. Unlike the fights he had… fights that were basically Cardin kicking the crap out of him until his aura gave out. Needless to say that Jaune didn't like Cardin and his team.

And neither did most of their group. "I can't wait 'til you kick that prick's ass," Yang said while glaring down CRDL.

"Why not do it yourself?"

"Wouldn't have the same impact. They know I could bust open a can of whoopass whenever I wanted to. I want those bastards to be humiliated."

"And me beating them would?"

"Uhhh…" Yang balked, twirling her hair around her finger. "A-anyways, you got any ideas for your next fight?"

Jaune made an active effort not to grimace, but he could feel his face sour all the same. He was trying to get better. Really! But with classes keeping them busy for something like six hours a day and the homework those classes gave him, it wasn't like he had much free time to spare towards anything else. He'd tried, too. Two to four hours a day of training with Kurama was a part of his daily schedule now at the minimum. Weekends often demanded a far more lengthy session with his fox mentor.

It was driving him nuts! All he wanted to do was read X-Ray and Vav, watch some TV, and drink so much soda that he passed out. He needed to fricking relax, but Jaune didn't feel he _deserved_ to relax. But if he didn't relax, he was going to explode. But if he stopped trying now then how was he different from the Jaune he'd been in Ansel? But but but — Jaune's thoughts continued to bat his fate back and forth like a ping pong ball.

"Soooooooo Jaune…" Yang's saccharine voice reminded him that he hadn't answered her question. Fortunately… or unfortunately, the blonde had other things in mind. "We're friends, right?"

The reaction speed with which Ruby panicked was a testament to her semblance-enhanced nerves. "Don't say-"

"Yeah! I mean, I think of you as a friend. I wasn't really sure if you… ya know?"

"Of course we're friends," Yang grinned. Ruby sighed and resigned her face to meet the desk, pulling her hood over her head to try and block out what was about to happen. "You ever need a friend to help you out, I'm your girl."

It was really stupid that his heart hammered in his chest when she said that. He knew how she meant it and Jaune didn't even like Yang that way. His heart refusing to still was proof that hormones were all powerful.

"So I was thinking… friends do favors for their friends. Right?"

Ruby sighed even louder, shaking her head as she pulled her hood even further so much as to pin it to the desk and blind her from the scene completely. Jaune couldn't even hope for rescue from the start of the fight due to Nora and Weiss both being given a few minutes to stretch.

So he answered the only way he could. "Right?"

"Totally! So if you could do a favor for me, I could help you out too."

It wasn't like Jaune was so slow on the uptake that he couldn't tell this conversation was veering towards the path of damnation. He knew. Knowledge couldn't save him. After a whole childhood of growing up with seven sisters? His sisters' fiercely bred conditioning prevailed. "Sure."

Ruby whimpered.

"You and the prof are pretty buddy-buddy, aren't ya?"

"Naruto?"

"Exactly!" Yang snapped her fingers. Thankfully, the sound of Nora shattering through some of Weiss' dust magic ice prevented Professor Goodwitch from noticing. "The prof doesn't let anybody but you call him by his name. Believe me, I tried."

Another item Jaune had to add to the already long list of things he didn't understand. Despite being so particular about being addressed as Professor Uzumaki with everyone else, he was equally adamant that Jaune call him by his name. What was up with that?

Him saying as much didn't deter Yang in the slightest. "Probably because you're his student. Before Beacon and all. You two traveled and trained together, right?"

Jaune was almost as sick of this question as he was of losing to Cardin. It felt like both happened every other day, but that wasn't why he hated it so much. Answering the same way — deceiving his friends even if he wasn't technically lying — opened a pit in his stomach every time he had to give the same carefully worded answer.

Less so in this case. "Yeah…" Though the answer was simple, it did little to help his guilt.

"Any chance you know what he likes?"

"What he… likes? Like food?"

"Like women."

The words were heard, yet it took Jaune a minute and more than a few aimless blinks to figure out what they meant, despite them meaning exactly what you'd expect.

"Like… you?"

"Obviously," Yang scoffed. "You don't get a second chance at a first impression. I figure it'll be tricky enough to bag a teacher as is. Might as well figure out what he likes to tailor my attack."

 _This… I just… I don't…_ Even in his mind, Jaune struggled to articulate how stupid that was. Naruto was close to twenty years older than her if he had to guess. He was also their teacher. Jaune was frankly jealous. Not of Naruto for catching Yang's eye. Not at all… mostly. He envied the free time she obviously had.

"Darn it!" Ruby's growl came at the perfect time to sidestep Yang's awkward question. "You can do it! Get her, Nora!"

Jaune didn't know how he'd missed the start of the spar. Team Rain and Team One had managed to become sister teams almost as soon as they'd gotten their names. As such, there was something of a competition between their teams… or more accurately, Weiss and Team Rain's girls. Ren being the odd one out on his team by not caring like Weiss was on their own by caring.

Ruby was on the money with her cheer; getting Weiss was definitely the name of Nora's game. A game she was losing. Weiss was repeatedly getting small pokes off with her rapier on the redhead and then quickly disengaging before the wide swing of Nora's hammer could find her. Rinse and repeat. With only a few percentage points of aura being shaved off with each strike, it was a very methodical and clean fight. A style that seemed to clearly favor Weiss in their duel.

There was something that was bothering Jaune about the fight. Something that didn't make sense. "Why isn't Weiss using her semblance?"

He'd seen it first during initiation and a few more times since in class. Her glyphs didn't make much sense to Jaune. From what he could tell, they let Weiss ignore or manipulate physics. Speeding things up, slowing things down, or acting like surfaces for her to jump off of. All advantages she wasn't using.

It was his partner who answered him. Her voice had that slow and indulgent quality of a teacher speaking to a child. "Being able to do more in a fight doesn't mean you should."

"Nora is losing," Ren agreed with a nod. "She is the one that needs to find a way out of this, not Weiss."

"But couldn't she win faster if she used her glyphs?"

"She could, but why would she?" It was Blake who answered him this time, sparing a rare moment from her book to join their conversation. "She's definitely winning now. Trying to end a fight quickly is an easy way to make mistakes."

That was something Jaune hadn't thought about. It made sense in a totally obvious kind of way. Everyone of Team One and Team Rain seemed to understand that. Even Ruby accepted it as natural. He was the only one who hadn't known.

Jaune was getting depressingly used to that feeling.

"You're not entirely wrong," Ren said, offering what Jaune felt was pity. Then again... Ren _was_ watching the fight closely, his eyes peeled. Maybe he was being serious. "Nora isn't one to get frustrated in a fight. I'm willing to say that few at this school are as fearsome a foe as my partner should she manage to find her bearings."

"And that means…"

"I think Weiss is giving her too much time to think."

As it turned out, Ren knew his partner well. Weiss had gotten into the habit of giving Nora a large amount of space after each hit. Fearing — or at least wanting to avoid — the lethal force of the redhead's hammer. That was a mistake.

Weiss' backstep was further this time. Was it an accident? Had Weiss started to think that distance was safety? Jaune didn't know. It didn't matter. It was a mistake.

Because Nora's hammer was not just a hammer. It had started to mechashift as soon as Weiss began her backstep; Nora somehow able to tell that this leap would put her opponent further away. Ren's eyes widened as the weapon turned into something else.

"Nora! Don't use-"

Ren's warning was given simultaneously to the thwump of a canister being launched from a tube. It was interrupted by the explosion said canister made upon impact with the ground behind Weiss. The heart-shaped explosion blasted Weiss towards a ready and waiting Nora.

"My revenge is here!" Nora cackled as she swung her hammer wide. The large windup would have been something Weiss could have easily dodged were she not hurtling through the air. When the blow buried itself squarely on Weiss' stomach there were a few oohs from the crowd and even more people wincing. Jaune counted himself among the latter half as Weiss' body crumpled against the ground and was sent skidding across the stage..

That single blow tanked Weiss' aura by seventy-five percent.

The buzzer to signal the end of the match sounded. "The match is over," Professor Goodwitch announced. "Nora Valkyrie is disqualified. Weiss Schnee is the winner."

"Don't use the grenade launcher," Ren finished his thought to himself before he heaved the sigh of a man too exhausted to care anymore. "Explosives are against sparring rules."

 _That's right._ Jaune remembered. He'd been grateful to know that of all the ways his classmates would find to kick his ass, at least explosions wouldn't be part of the equation.

Nora, proving she was both brave and insane, voices her objections. "That's not fair! My weapon is literally half grenade launcher. How the heck are these spars fai- shutting up now."

It had taken Nora a few seconds to realize Professor Goodwitch's features had frozen into jagged ice. Once she did, however, the girl locked her mouth and wisely lost the key.

"Ms. Schnee, Ms. Valkyrie. If you would return to your seats we'll start on... Actually," Professor Goodwitch glanced at the clock. "That will be all for lessons today. Do remember your worksheets are due at the end of the week. The information will be essential for your quiz the following week."

The scuffing of chair legs and pained groans were heard in equal measure. The 'worksheet' as she called it was eight pages of multiple choice, free response questions, and an essay prompt she'd assigned only yesterday. Jaune had thrown it onto the pile of the five-page essay on the importance of palisades for settlements. That, of course, sat atop the required readings on the edibility of gilled fungi that Jaune had no intention of reading as it was the only thing without homework attached to it.

School sucked.

"At least classes are finally over," Jaune grumbled. He was supposed to meet Kurama after this for more training. The fox had been hammering attack patterns into him for the better part of the week. Kurama had stripped him of his shield and served as his claw-happy sparring partner.

It was one of the least fun lessons Kurama had given him. That said something.

"I _so_ would have won!" Nora's insistence brought Jaune back to the present.

Weiss scoffed. "I can assure you that had the rules been different, then so too would my approach to the fight differ. It's impossible to judge who would have been the victor of that hypothetical from this bout."

"Nuh-uh! I hypothetically would have kicked your butt!"

"You tell her Nora!" Ruby cheered with a hint of deviousness in her bubbly smile. It was the surest sign Jaune could get that she and Yang were actually sisters.

After Weiss' rebuttal, Nora's denial, Weiss again, Nora again, Weiss giving up on 'the childish discussion', Yang goading her back into it, and about three more minutes of bickering, the two teams wound themselves around to the same question they always did at the day's end.

"What are you guys doing after class?" Ruby asked innocently.

There was one thing his team was able to do together. Three pairs of eyes slid over to him and delivered stares lacking any type of subtlety. Jaune couldn't deny that their questioning looks were fair… and that only made his guilt worse.

"I've got to train. With the professor," Jaune added quickly as Pyrrha opened her mouth. His partner pursed her lips and looked away; his whole team did. "They're helping me catch up."

"They?" Ren asked.

Not wanting to get bogged down in a conversation about the magical talking fox, Jaune did the only thing he could. "I'll catch up with you all later."

With not but a quick wave, he bravely turned his tail and fled.

Jaune cleared the door out of Professor Goodwitch's classroom without turning to look back at his team. Every time he did this, there was no stopping the guilt from pooling inside. And the same as every other time, Jaune comforted himself in the same way.

 _I have to do this._ He tried to convince himself. He'd succeeded at it regularly when this first started weeks ago. But now? _No. This is… not fine, but necessary._

He had to do this. Better that he become a leader on his own time than his team realizing he'd lied his way into Beacon. There wouldn't be any coming back for Team One if they realized their leader was a complete fraud. _This is for the best._

Guilt was replaced by shame as Jaune paused at one of the hallways. Kurama and the cliffs of Beacon awaited him down the left hallway; the same path he'd walked for weeks.

He took a right

* * *

It was an ugly sensation that was bubbling beneath the surface of her skin as Weiss watched her leader go off on his own for what had to be the umpteenth time. After the first few days, she'd never have thought that Jaune would be the one preventing their team from coming together. The sigh that passed the lips of Pyrrha Nikos showed that for once they agreed on something.

"Do you think he hates us?" Pyrrha asked glumly and Jaune's silhouette disappeared around the hall. The three of them were standing outside Professor Goodwitch's classroom as their leader had just bid them adieu.

A more polite way of saying he'd turned tail the moment they'd tried to corner him into team training.

"Nonsense," Weiss answered immediately. "I know Jaune cares about this team."

He'd said as much that day in the hall. That one moment in time where she'd sat next to him and he'd told her he couldn't let her lead their team. Weiss was not unused to fighting people for things she wanted and thus would not have been unwilling to argue Jaune Arc for the position. A fight she'd surely win if his fights with Winchester were to be her determining metric.

 _But…_

Weiss had not expected him to give up his position without a struggle. In that sense, his refusal was expected, yet it was not _as_ expected. When Jaune sat beside her, he'd said she could not be their leader with no mirth on his voice and no victory in his body. He'd resigned himself to the role because it was the best path for all of them with the cards he'd been dealt. Almost two decades of being the daughter of the richest man on Remnant had given her a keen eye for duplicity. Weiss knew that at that moment Jaune was earnest.

"Whatever he's doing, I believe he is doing it for our team."

"It's hard to appreciate that when he keeps us at arm's length," Blake sighed the same sigh that all of them had been heaving for the past week. "My first impression was the same as yours," She added when Weiss glowered in her direction. "Jaune… promoted team cohesion when it was an unpopular opinion."

 _Jaune stuck up for you after you stormed off._ Weiss read between the lines. The reminder that her two teammates were painfully averse to her only deepened her frown. She knew her family name was likely to garner ill will what with the decades of her father raking it through mud, but both Pyrrha and Blake being obviously hesitant to look past that was as unproductive as it was painful. Team Rain already acting thick as thieves when their own team was struggling to find traction only twisted the knife.

Funnily enough, it was Jaune's repeated absence that was forcing the two of them to cooperate with her. Their issue with her had taken a backseat to the mutual desire they all shared in getting Jaune reinvolved with their team.

"And that is why we have kept things civil. I think our acting could use some work," Weiss was the third and last of their team to allow a sigh to escape her lips. "But we have nonetheless endeavored to make our team environment a more welcoming one."

"Not that it's changed anything." Pyrrha pouted.

"Lack of change still tells us something," Blake paused and brought her hand up to her face as she thought. "Though I don't know what."

"Wonderfully helpful, Blake."

Weiss had been conditioned to expect the lash of the barbed tongue from her teammate who'd appeared to categorically detest her. Instead, Pyrrha's eyes flashed and she dropped her fist into her open palm. "If you don't know what a word means, what do you do?"

Realization came to Blake's eyes as well. "Look it up."

"Our leader lacks an instruction manual, unfortunately."

"If you wanted to be friends with Ruby, who would you ask for advice?"

A somewhat rhetorical question as the young girl had attempted to throw her friendship at Weiss from the moment they entered the school. Weiss felt a twinge of regret for rebuking that now. How was she to know things with her own team would have gone so absurdly poor?

"Her sister, I suppose," Weiss answered. "Assuming I needed advice, it would be best to get it from someone who knows her. I don't believe anyone else knew her before… ah."

How had she not thought of it before?

"I had intended to complete Professor Oobleck's assignment on palisades. However…"

"Now?" Pyrrha asked. Did she have to sound so surprised?

"The sooner we sort this out the sooner we might become an actual team."

The continued surprise on Pyrrha's face was vexing. It reminded Weiss that she should not judge people on reputation alone. As if she needed such a reminder with her own circumstance. Her partner had been the only one to successfully establish even the smallest of bridges between her and her other teammates. If she had any chance of smoothing over her team's needlessly bumpy road she'd need her partner there to help her.

Besides… Jaune was the only one on their team that treated her like a friend. She missed that. She missed feeling like she was close to someone for real. He'd wanted her to be his leader because he respected her. He'd been so gentle in breaking the news that she couldn't and Weiss knew it was because he considered her a friend.

She considered him one as well. Her only friend at Beacon.

She'd planned on doing Oobleck's assignment not only because it was the responsible thing to do, but also because it gave her an excuse to hide out in the library until a time where Jaune would be finished with his training. His presence was a saving grace for the Team One dorm as it prevented the perpetually uncomfortable silence that existed otherwise. He was usually tired from whatever training he was doing in secret, yet he always talked to them when he returned.

Beacon had not been the escape she'd hoped it would be.

 _I can't dwell. I must move forward._

"Let's go."

* * *

Pyrrha knew it was exorbitantly petty that she didn't want to follow Weiss for the sole reason that the heiress had been the one to tell them to. It was a childish impulse that she promptly quashed.

 _I'm being ridiculous._ Pyrrha lamented for what was not the first time as she followed after their would-be leader. Her annoying, pretentious, image-obsessed teammate who- _Stop that!_ She chastised herself once more.

Beacon was supposed to be her escape. Her reputation had grown so large in Mistral that she couldn't even walk home from school without someone recognizing her and making a fuss. Contractual obligation with her sponsors prevented her from ever making a scene, forcing her to always respond with a smile and good manners. Politely indulging everyone around her as part of her job had become so ingrained into her day-to-day life that she'd started doing it habitually; had started thinking it was what she _should_ be doing. Even now, Pyrrha wasn't sure if that was wrong or right.

She'd come to Beacon precisely to find someone like Jaune. He had no idea who she was. Check. He wasn't interested in using her for her fame or combat prowess. Check. And finally, Pyrrha wanted someone who made her feel comfortable. Someone who didn't feel alienated by her strength. Sort of check? Jaune wasn't alienated by _her_ strength. He was alienated from their entire team. Something that Pyrrha attributed almost entirely to Weiss Schnee.

Pyrrha had tried to avoid being placed on her team in the first place. When that failed, she forced herself to try and be accepting of Weiss. Or, at the very least, open-minded enough to be proven wrong. Despite her best efforts, they were going to be a team. She should at least try to give the girl a chance.

That chance had lasted less than a day. Exactly the amount of time it took Weiss to launch her secessionist movement that would have her appointed ruler.

Ever since then, Jaune had gone from present companion to frequent ghost. Weiss had claimed they had resolved their issues and that her coup d'etat was over. Pyrrha wasn't convinced.

"And that's why it's important to make sure that you're proficient in hand-to-hand," Professor Uzumaki orated. At some point, the three of them had arrived at the teacher's classroom. The professor stood at the front of the class with what Pyrrha assumed was one of his older students underfoot. His foot was pressing into her shoulder blade, keeping the girl's body flush with the ground. She may have been able to escape were it not for the grip he had on her arm; hyperextending it behind her back made it so the girl had no chance of escaping the two points of pressure without breaking her arm.

"Relying on your weapon is a mistake I expect from the first-years. You guys should know better by now. Ms. Adel was not completely unprepared for a rush down," The professor gestured towards a handbag that looked like it had no business being in this combat demonstration. "She made no attempt to mechashift her weapon. It was the correct decision. Unfortunately, Ms. Adel blundered in not preparing a countermeasure for basic joint manipulation which allowed me to disarm her."

"You suck…" The girl mumbled, the acoustics of the room carrying it to their ears.

"I'm not the one eating floor right now, Ms. Adel," Professor Uzumaki rolled his eyes as he removed his foot and let go of her arm. His demonstration now over, the professor placed his normal hand and his bandaged one in his pockets. "Your assignment today is to identify the weaknesses of your own fighting style and find out how you would exploit them in another. Knowing how to attack your own faults is the first step to defending against them."

Those parting words were the end of Professor Uzumaki's lecture. The students began to filter out of the classroom and the three of them made room as they shuffled past the crowds and to the side of the class. Naruto's eyes found the three of them as soon as they entered. Trained vision saw three people going against the flow and immediately marked them.

He did not broach a conversation with them until all of his students had left the classroom. Neither did he delay once they had. "Team One… mostly. What can I do for you today?"

"We're sorry to bother you, Professor. We hope you're not busy."

"It's fine," Professor Uzumaki waved off Weiss' concern. Pyrrha could tell he didn't care for it. Something they had in common. "So it's about Jaune then?"

The professor suggested it with a casual certainty that had Pyrrha taken aback. "How did you know?"

"Come on. All three members of his team come to see _me_ at the same time? Without him?" The professor laughed. "I think you'd need a neon sign to be more obvious." The professor walked over to his desk on the stage and hooked the chair with his leg. He tossed it up and caught it with his hand before walking over to the front row of student desks. Seating himself in front of the desk, Professor Uzumaki gestured for them to take a seat. "Now… what specifically are you looking for from me?"

Pyrrha took the offered seat feeling slightly on edge. Professor Uzumaki always made her feel that way. He was always kind, respectful, and welcoming whenever anyone approached him. Always polite. Yet Pyrrha always felt a chill when he showed that purposefully sunny demeanor. It felt like the professor's entire being was as manufactured as her stage smile.

"We were hoping you might offer us some insight, Professor," Weiss started. Once again nominating herself as the de facto leader of their group. "Our team has had some teething problems."

Professor Uzumaki chuckled but there was little mirth in it. "Most teams do, Ms. Schnee. Most of those teams don't then try to replace their leader at the first bite."

Pyrrha tried her best not to look smug as Weiss floundered, likely doing a poor job at it. Thankfully, Weiss' focus was on the professor. "W-well… that was a mistake on my part, I admit. Jaune and I had a frank discussion in which we rectified that issue. I admitted I was hasty in my actions and did not want him to believe I thought him unworthy of the position he was given."

"Hmmm?"

"It is simply that…" Weiss paused as she searched for the words. "While I have accepted Jaune as the leader of Team One, I do not believe he has accepted the role himself."

Pyrrha sighed and stayed silent. Weiss had articulated her thoughts perfectly. She'd left out the part where she acknowledged it was probably her swift rejection of Jaune's leadership that stole his confidence out from under him in the first place. Bringing that up now wouldn't help the conversation, so Pyrrha reluctantly pursed her lips.

"Hmmm…" The professor hummed again. "I can't say I see things the same way. It looks the exact opposite to me, actually."

"How?" Blake spoke up.

The professor sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Really not my place to be talking about his business," Professor Uzumaki paused, deliberated briefly, and then shrugged. "Let's talk about something else."

"Professor, I really don't-"

"If we were to rate the first-years' combat ability on a scale of one through ten, where do you think you'd be, Pyrrha?" The professor interrupted Weiss and turned to her. His eyes had that same quality they always seemed to have whenever he looked at her. It felt like he was silently judging her. "One being the weakest student and ten being the strongest."

Pyrrha didn't want to talk about this. They'd come to find a way to help Jaune and their team. Even though she didn't want to, something about the professor compelled her to speak. "Probably a nine, a nine-point-"

"You're the ten with a bullet and you know it," Professor Uzumaki silenced her. He'd interrupted Weiss, but this felt completely different. He'd ignored Weiss to speak. His piercing blue eyes were not ignoring her. "Your false modesty is part of your team's problem. Though it is only a small part," Naruto admitted. "I'd put Weiss somewhere around an eight; losing to both yourself and Yang. Blake is a seven and a half. Maybe a seven. Hard to say since her fighting style seems more geared towards fighting humans than grimm. I do sometimes spectate my colleague's class."

His words left Blake slightly shell-shocked while Weiss ground her teeth together in grudging agreement. Had the professor ever watched their fights? Pyrrha couldn't say she remembered seeing him in Professor Goodwitch's classroom before.

As it stood, the impetus was on Pyrrha to speak, lest the professor continue to derail their conversation further off the tracks. "I understand why you would say so. However, we came to talk about-"

"Jaune," The professor interrupted her. And this time it felt like an interruption with the smallest of smug smiles that twitched on his lips. "Where would you place Jaune?"

"Excuse me?"

"One through ten," The professor asked airily. "Jaune Arc, leader of Team One. If one is the weakest of the first years and ten is you, where would you place Jaune?"

Was Professor Uzumaki intentionally trying to irritate her? His every word felt smug and condescending like he was looking down on them, his tone containing a message his words did not. _You really don't get it? Really?_

"I believe that Jaune has been improving since his admittance to Beacon," Weiss stepped back into the conversation. "He may not be the strongest student, but-"

"He's the weakest," The professor damned his pupil with the title with a casual shrug that made Pyrrha's blood boil. "You all know it. He knows it. Everyone in your class knows it. I can assure you that Professor Goodwitch knows it. Jaune takes one with a bigger bullet than Pyrrha takes ten."

Pyrrha rushed to her leader's defense. "He's training with you every day! He's doing everything he can!"

The professor didn't respond and Pyrrha couldn't find anything in his mute expression. Nothing about the man made sense. Did Professor Uzumaki care about Jaune? Did he not? She'd spent her entire life growing up around people wearing masks. Reporters, aristocrats, sponsors, all of them hiding their intentions to further their agenda. Learning to identify those motives had been essential to avoid being taken advantage of. And yet here she sat, guessing Professor Uzumaki's motives without so much as an inkling.

What did he want?

* * *

 _This is what happens when you lie, Jaune._ Naruto grumbled silently.

He'd known that Team One would go through growing pains when he made Jaune leader. When he'd first arrived at Beacon, he'd requested permission for Jaune's attendance from the headmaster. 'Request' was likely too polite a term; strong-armed fit better. Remnant was in dire straits and both he and the headmaster knew it. A little showing off in a rather forcibly arranged interview had been all Naruto needed to ensure the terms of his employment were of his own design. One of said terms had been Jaune's enrollment.

In what should have been an impossible twist of fate, his efforts would have been nothing more than a waste of bargaining power. Jaune had actually managed to gain enrollment to Beacon on his own merits.

… Which was impossible.

Which meant whatever transcripts he had were forgeries.

From there, it didn't take much to figure out the nature of the cloud hanging over Team One. Naruto didn't even need that much to put it together. Because frankly, it wasn't that hard of a puzzle. Jaune didn't feel worthy of leading his team and the other three couldn't manage to fix their issues without him. Naruto thought the issue would be open and shut when he'd talked to Weiss and Jaune to set things straight.

Nope. Still a huge fucking problem. Apparently. Somehow.

"He's training with you every day! He's doing everything he can!"

 _Training with Kurama, technically._ Naruto amended the redhead's words in his head. Both Weiss and Blake seemed to rally behind Pyrrha's declaration. The three of them were remarkably in sync on this issue for being as fractured as they claimed to be. While he wasn't sure what Pyrrha's issue with Weiss was, Blake's was a little more on the nose.

Hidden under a bow or not, aura still flowed to her ears. Her _other_ ears.

Part of him was interested in the biological aspect of it. Two sets of working ears? Did the animal ears hear better? If so, was there a difference in sound quality? Maybe not. Maybe it was more of a difference of perceptive range. He'd been tempted to ask the girl on more than one occasion.

Not a topic to address at the present. There wasn't really all that much to talk about in his opinion. Jaune's attitude had started to make a shift since they'd met. That didn't mean the man himself would transform inside a month. He was actually impressed by Kurama's estimation of how diligently the boy had been training. Kurama had tried to push Jaune to consult with his team more and it looked like he'd understood.

 _And now I'm stalling by reflecting._ Naruto admitted boredly. That was his attitude towards this whole affair. The teachers didn't expect teams to be teams yet. That was why the first real mission wouldn't be until the second semester. Team One was likely comparing themselves to Team Rain. _Comparing a team with a faunus, a fraud, a champion, and an SDC heiress to a team like RRYN is not doing them any favors._ _RRYN has no social friction while it's Team One's brick and mortar._

More reflecting. More stalling. He'd only taken twenty seconds to process all of that, but that wasn't the issue. Naruto wanted to wrap this conversation up because it was a type of tedium he had little patience for. He'd have been much more sympathetic if most of this wasn't spawned from Jaune's lies to his team. That wasn't the fault of the three girls, obviously. But a closet faunus butting heads with the SDC heiress she'd closed the book on within a minute of meeting and a champion fighter who couldn't take combat seriously most certainly were. Weiss' candied niceties looked to have worn.

One of those offences bothered him far more than the other two. Pyrrha Nikos was looking at him with righteous indignation on behalf of Kurama's little liar. Funny that she sparked similar emotion in himself.

"Then what can I do for you?" Naruto asked. "You say Jaune is training hard to catch up with you all and I agree. If you came here asking how to deal with your team issues then my advice is patience. Jaune is doing what he believes to be in his team's best interests. If you disagree then my advice would be to talk to him."

Blake shook her head. "He runs off to your training every time we bring up anything involving the team."

"Then corner him."

"He doesn't want to talk about it," Pyrrha almost glared at him. She was too polite and reserved to be that aggressive towards an educator. "We were hoping you could tell us why. Or at least point us in the right direction."

Naruto held his tongue and sat down on the stage behind him, putting a bit more distance between him and the girls. Jaune's secrets were not his to give regardless of whether or not he agreed with the boy's keeping of them. Sometimes teams had their secrets. It wasn't like Team Seven had started off thick as thieves. They'd bonded over missions with their lives on the line. Fighting superior opponents had a way of-

"Ah," The sound escaped Naruto's lips as the thought crossed his mind. It was an idea far more reckless than he'd usually have. He'd grown used to the luxury of time as an immortal. Not this time. "Jaune's business is his own… though it is still possible for me to help where I can."

His particular phrasing left Pyrrha with doubts written on her face. She was right to. Weiss had no such reservations. "We would appreciate any aid you could provide, Professor."

At that moment, Naruto could have easily pulled off a snigger that his teenage self would be proud of. He fought the tempting impulse. "We had a teamwork building exercise where I come from that I would be willing to help Team One through. It is combat related and there is danger involved…" He let the words hang in the air for a moment. "That being said, it helped my own team begin to come together when I was an academy student."

"Then we would be honored to follow in your footsteps, Professor."

 _Weiss is such a kissass._ Naruto felt exhausted by merely listening to all her pomp. It made him want to spring his trap then and there. He did not. While Pyrrha and Blake had not disagreed, neither had they given their consent. They needed to make their own choices in a situation such as this.

"I'll offer one last warning; this is not a simple task. I passed with my team only barely and it was by no means a painless experience. There is risk involved in this exercise. It may have helped make my team and many others, but even more teams were broken by it. If all three of you are not individually determined, you will fail."

He couldn't give it to them plainer than that. Some might have called him harsh knowing what he intended to do. Naruto would happily let them. The girls of Team One had potential; the kind of potential to be more than huntresses. Experience was what let Naruto see that. He'd been a hero, he'd trained heroes, and he knew what kind of person fit the bill.

None of them.

And that was something Beacon couldn't afford.

The three girls looked at each other. They didn't converse with words. Determined expressions and nods were shared before they turned back to him having reached their resolution. Even the previously doubtful Pyrrha having been brought on board.

"I wish to see our team succeed," Pyrrha answered.

"We all wish to see our team succeed," Weiss added with a slight scowl.

Blake didn't chime in. She gave him the same nod she'd given her teammates. All three had made their decision and he had no intention of giving their fourth man the luxury of choice. It was mostly Jaune's fault he was mucked up in all of this, after all. He'd make sure they all shaped up enough that they wouldn't bother him with crap like this again.

Failing that, he'd have to settle for none of them bothering him for the next year.

Naruto's lips cracked into a toothy grin. It had been a while since he'd done this. "Then I'll see all of Team One bright and early tomorrow. Sunrise, the cliffs, be there," He delivered his instructions simply. Putting his hands on his knees and pushing himself up, Naruto rose from the stage and turned away from them. "I'll make sure the other professors know that you'll be excused from classes for the day."

The girls started whispering behind him, diving into an eager discussion. Why were they being excused from classes? What would they be doing? Naruto didn't notice, already wrapped up in his own thoughts and memories.

One in particular came to the forefront. "There's something I forgot to mention," Naruto said without turning to face them.

"Yes, Professor?"

"Make sure you skip breakfast."

* * *

 _ **Saying I'm completely happy with this chapter would be a lie. I kept beating around the bush on how to make this chapter feel more interesting and that led to far too long of me not completing it. As it is, it serves as a transitory chapter that sets up many things and has some pacing issues. I'll probably look back to this in the grand scheme of the story and look for what specifically I'd change to improve it, but it will serve for now.**_

 _ **Until next time.**_


End file.
